Yvette Santos (IHC – NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST) has begun a visit as a Visiting Researcher at the Laboratoire des Études Romanes, funded by the FCT Mobility programme. Until August, the IHC researcher will conduct her research on Portuguese emigration to France, thereby enriching the international and interdisciplinary dimensions of her individual CEEC project hosted by IN2PAST “(UN)DESIRABLE: the repatriation of Portuguese emigrants from Rio de Janeiro, Paris and New York (1919–1939)”. The main archives she will consult are the Library of Paris 8 University itself, the National Library of France, the National Archives and the Paris Archives, which are essential for the study of the surveillance and administrative management of migrant populations.

The main aim of the visit is to prepare a book on the “undesirability” of Portuguese migrants, from a comparative perspective between Paris, New York and Rio de Janeiro. With this work, Yvette Santos “aims to make an original contribution to the history of migration, focusing on the rejection of Portuguese migrants during the interwar period” and also to expand “existing studies on policies and practices of undesirability, which until now have concentrated mainly on national approaches and the role of states”. As a corollary to this visit, an international conference will be held in November, “Between War and Peace: New Perspectives and Challenges of Portuguese Migration (1919–1945)”, for which the call for papers is currently open.

More information: (UN)DESIRABLE: the repatriation of Portuguese emigrants from Rio de Janeiro, Paris and New York (1919-1939)