Indigenous migration in Mexico, Guatemala and the USA: Valentina Glockner and Walter G. Flores speak to Jenny Allsopp

This conversation examines the unresearched phenomenon of indigenous migration with a focus on Guatemala, Mexico and the US diaspora. Despite the heterogeneity of indigenous populations in terms of language culture, age, gender and family make-up, they often face a range of specific vulnerabilities on the move. The challenges they meet both on their journey and once they settle are significant. They include gender-based violence, human trafficking, racism and language barriers that undermine their rights and due process. Indigenous populations in Central America are at risk of displacement owing to range of factors, including climate change and environmental degradation alongside extreme poverty, lack of socio-economic opportunity and violence. 

In this conversation, Dr Jennifer Allsopp talks to Dr Walter Flores and Professor Valentina Glockner, Co-Investigators on the GCRF funded Life Facing Deportation project about recent trends in indigenous migration. Together, they discuss the need for a localized and global response to rights literacy for indigenous people on the move.  

Dr Walter Flores

Dr Flores is a social scientist and advocate with over 25 years of professional experience. He holds a PhD and a Masters in Community Health from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK.  His undergraduate studies in Psychology were carried-out at California State University-Chico, USA and Universidad de San Carlos, Guatemala. Dr Flores’ professional work has been carried-out in more than 30 countries from Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. His areas of expertise are:  health policy analysis, health systems, health equity, right to health, democratic governance of public policies and community participation in public policies. Dr. Flores is the founder and principal advisor of Centro de estudios para la equidad y gobernanza en los sistemas de salud (CEGSS) (Center for the Study of Equity and Governance in Health Systems), a civil society organization in Guatemala specialized in research, capacity building and advocacy around issues affecting indigenous and other marginalized populations. Dr Flores is also a steering committee member of the Community of Practitioners on Accountability and Social Action in Health-COPASAH, which is a network of civil society organizations from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, working towards improving healthcare services for marginalized populations through human rights, accountability and social mobilization. 

Professor Valentina Glockner

Valentina Glockner is a Professor of Education at Cinvestav (Centre for Research and Advanced Study) She is a Mexican anthropologist formerly affiliated with the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) based at the Child Research Observatory at El Colegio de Sonora, Mexico. She has specialized on the anthropology of childhood, migration and the state. She completed a year of Postdoctoral Studies in Childhood and Youth at CLACSO-CINDE with a Mexico-India comparative project. She has directed and coordinated research projects funded by the National Geographic Society, the Sonora-Arizona Interuniversity Alliance, The University of Texas and CONACYT (CONTEX). She has been a fellow of the CLACSO-CROP program for studies on poverty and has participated in research projects of INAH, CIESAS-UNICEF, BUAP-PROMEP and UAMI-CONACYT. She is a founder member of Colectiva Infancias, a network of researchers specialized in social studies of children and migration in the Global South. She is currently a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies, Summer Program 2018-2019 and a member of the Mexican National Research System (SNI) since 2017.