School of Social Sciences and Professions staff profiles content store_hidden María E. López Our staff

María Encarnación López is Professor of Sociology in the School of Social Sciences and Professions and Deputy Director of the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre at London Metropolitan University.

María holds a PhD in Hispanic Studies from University College London, an MA in Postcolonial Studies from London Metropolitan University and a BA (Hons) in English Philology from the Complutense University of Madrid.

María joined London Metropolitan University in 2007 as a lecturer in Latin American and Spanish Studies and went to become Head of the Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies for five years. Since 2014, she has taught at the sociology of sex and gender, political violence, human rights, and racism and ethnicity at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and has held several administrative positions, including postgraduate research coordinator for the former school of social sciences.

In 2020, she was appointed Deputy Director of the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre (GDIRC), which has become a vibrant hub for interdisciplinary research, bringing together expertise from across the university and beyond. The Centre is firmly aligned with the university's strategic plan to develop its research environment and support its mission of equity and social justice.

María has researched the dynamics of violence against marginalised communities in a range of global settings for over 20 years. Her current research focuses on inequalities affecting gendered, sexualised and racialised communities in hostile global environments, including the LGBTQ+ community in Cuba, migrant women in transit through Mexico, and Afghan and Syrian refugees in the UK.

María’s areas of teaching and supervision are sociology of gender and sexuality, migration and racism and ethnicity in the contemporary world.

María's most recent centre affiliations are:

Non-Resident Research Fellow (2022-2023). Center for US–Mexican Studies, University of California San Diego, US.

Research Fellow (since 2019), Centre for the Study of Security, Intelligence, and Governance, Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM).

Visiting Fellow, Latin America and Caribbean Centre (LACC), London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (2017–2020).

Selected journal articles and book chapters

1. Ryan, López,Dalceggioand Adell (2025) ‘You need a network’: how highly qualified refugees rebuild social networks to convert cultural capital and reclaim professional identities', Sociology 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00380385251363897  
2. López (2025)‘En México, desde que usted entra... ¿de dónde tenemos para pagar a los policías?’ Institutional machismo against migrant women heading north, PArtecipazione e COnflitto, SI Gender-Based Violence and Migration: Political Conflict, Intersectionality, and Contentious politics. Università del Salento, 15 March, 18(1), 147-162. http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/paco/issue/view/2092. DOI: 10.1285/i20356609v18i1p147      

1. López (2024) ‘Global relations and workers at the US-Mex border’. In Brian McDonough and Jane Parry (eds.),Sociology, Work and Organisations: A Global Context, pp. 267-279. London: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Sociology-Work-and-Organisations-A-Global-Context/McDonough-Parry/p/book/9781032323862 ISBN 9781032323862  
2. Ryan, López and Rasa (2024) ‘‘It hurts my heart’: Afghan women in London negotiating family relationships and (im)mobility regimes across borders’,Population, Space and Place for a special issue: Intergenerational Care, Intersecting Inequalities and Wellbeing among Transnational Families in Europe. 30 (8) (e2814). pp. 1-11. ISSN 1544-8452 https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2814   

1. López, Díaz de León and Castro (2024) “Mujeres a la fuga. Narrativa del viaje como vehículo de resistencia para las mujeres en tránsito por México”,Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revue Canadienne Des Études Latino-Américaines et Caraïbes, 49(3), 410-427. https://doi.org/10.1080/08263663.2024.2372170  
2. Ryan, López andDalceggio (2024) ‘Encountering the hostile environment: recently arrived Afghan migrants in London’, Critical Social Policy, 44(2), 242-262. OA. https://doi.org/10.1177/02610183231194876  

1. López and Ryan (2023) ‘‘What are you doing here?’: Narratives of border crossings among diverse Afghans going to the UK at different times’,Frontiers in Sociology Special Issue “Bodies at Borders: Analyzing the Objectification and Containment of Migrants at Border Crossing.”. Volume 8 (February),1-11. OA. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2023.1087030  
2. López (2022) ‘“We are tired of being told it is not a big deal”: institutional machismo in Mexico’,Georgetown Journal of International Affairs.  (https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2022/05/20/we-are-tired-of-being-told-it-is-not-a-big-deal-institutional-machismo-in-mexico/) 

1. López (2022) ‘Governance on violence against women in the necropolitical border: the case of Ciudad Juárez’.In Vidal Romero and Jorge Tello Peón (eds.), Seguridad, Inteligencia y Gobernanza en México: Propuestas a Problemas (pp. 187–201). Mexico City: Tirant Lo Blanche. (https://editorial.tirant.com/mex/libro/seguridad-inteligencia-y-gobernanza-en-mexico-propuestas-a-problemas-vidal-romero-9788411131759)  
2. López (2022) ‘Review on Ana-Maurine Lara,Streetwalking: LGBTQ Lives and Protest in the Dominican Republic (Rutgers University Press)’, New West Indian Guide, Brill, 96 (1–2). ISBN: 1382-2373 (print only); ISSN: 2213-4360 (online).  (https://brill.com/view/journals/nwig/96/1-2/article-p159_19.xml?language=en)  

1. López (2017) ‘Homosexuality and homophobia in Europe’. In Stuart Isaacs (ed.),European Social Problems (pp. 220–236). London: Routledge. ISBN: 9781138919938. (https://www.routledge.com/European-Social-Problems/Isaacs/p/book/9781138919945 https://www.routledge.com/European-Social-Problems/Isaacs/p/book/9781138919945)  
2. López (2016) ‘La revolución cubana en transición: Estados Unidos, democracia, derechos humanos y el Papa Francisco’,Otro Lunes. Revista Hispanoamericana de Cultura, [Electronic], 40(10). ISSN: 2174-1425. (https://otrolunes.com/40/este-lunes/la-revolucion-cubana-en-transicion-estados-unidos-democracia-y-el-papa-francisco/)   

1. López (2014) ‘Reinaldo Arenas: the spokesman of the invisible community’. In Mauricio A. Font and Araceli Tinajero (eds.),Handbook on Cuban History, Literature, and the Arts: New Perspectives on Historical and Contemporary Social Change (pp. 73–96). New York and London: Routledge. ISBN: 978161205679.  (https://www.routledge.com/Handbook-on-Cuban-History-Literature-and-the-Arts-New-Perspectives-on/Font-Tinajero/p/book/9781612056791)  
2. López (2014) ‘Treinta años de “Conducta impropia”: interviewwith Orlando Jiménez Leal’, Diario de Cuba, [Electronic], 26 July. (https://diariodecuba.com/cultura/1406363179_9658.html)  

 Books 

1. Ryan, López and Grabowska (eds.) (2023)Bodies at Borders: Analyzing the Objectification and Containment of Migrants at Border Crossing, Frontiers in Sociology.  
2. López, M. E. and S. M. Hart (2022)Gender Violence in Twenty-First-Century Latin American Women’s Writing. (https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781855663169/gender-violence-in-twenty-first-century-latin-american-womens-writing/) Woodbridge: Tamesis, Boydell & Brewer. ISSN: 2752-308X (print); ISBN 9781855663169.  

1. López, M. E. (2015)Homosexuality and Invisibility in Revolutionary Cuba: Reinaldo Arenas and Tomás Gutiérrez Alea. (Homosexuality and Invisibility in Revolutionary Cuba - Boydell and Brewer) Woodbridge: Tamesis, Boydell & Brewer. ISBN: 9781855662889.  
2. Women on the Run: Narrating Violence against Women in Transit ThroughMexico,  fieldworkfunded the Center for US–Mexican Studies, University of California San Diego, US (https://www.londonmet.ac.uk/research/centres-groups-and-units/global-diversities-and-inequalities-research-centre/projects-and-partners/women-on-the-run-narrative-of-violence-against-women-in-transit-through-mexico-/ ) 

Research projects 

María is currently working on three externally funded research projects: 

1. Afghan Resettlement in England: Experiences and Opportunities (funded by the Nuffield Foundation). (https://www.londonmet.ac.uk/research/centres-groups-and-units/global-diversities-and-inequalities-research-centre/projects-and-partners/afghan-resettlement-in-england-outcomes-and-experiences-/) 

An evaluation of the Afghan and Syrian Resettlement Schemes in the London Borough of Islington. (https://www.londonmet.ac.uk/research/centres-groups-and-units/global-diversities-and-inequalities-research-centre/projects-and-partners/an-evaluation-of-the-syrian-and-afghan-resettlement-programmes-in-islington/ ) 

Professorial appointments 

Senior Research Visiting Fellow (2025-2026). Institute of Advanced Studies, University College London (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of-advanced-studies/professor-maria-lopez)  

Non-Resident Research Fellow (2022-2023). Center for US–Mexican Studies, University of California San Diego, US. https://usmex.ucsd.edu/fellows/maria-lopez.html    

Research Fellow (since 2019), Centre for the Study of Security, Intelligence, and Governance, Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM). http://cesig.itam.mx/es/profesor/maria-encarnacion-lopez  

Visiting Fellow, Latin America and Caribbean Centre (LACC), London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (2017–2020). http://www.lse.ac.uk/lacc/people/research-staff/Dr-Maria-Lopez  

Non-Resident Research Fellow (2022-2023). Center for US–Mexican Studies, University of California San Diego, US.

María’s most recent presentations are

July 2024. Spanish and Latin American Studies Conference (SLAS). Amsterdam. Women on the run. Narrative of the journey as a means of survival for women in transit through Mexico

April 2024. Bodies at Borders: a Webinar on Migration Studies. Launch of SI Bodies at Borders: Analyzing the Objectification and Containment of Migrants at Border Crossing, Frontiers Media SA.

April 2024. ‘An evaluation of the Syrian and Afghan resettlement programmes delivered in Islington: using comparative and longitudinal approaches.’ The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Home Office.

March 2024. Behind-the-Scenes: Conversations on Fieldwork. Institute of Language, Cultures and Societies (ILCS), School of Advanced Studies University of London.

Jan 2024. Hybrid symposium on gender. GDI Research Centre co-branded with the Interdisciplinary Research Forum. London Metropolitan University

November 2023. Women in Spanish and Portuguese Studies (WISPS) Annual Conference. Keynote Speaker. University of Warwick

May 2023. Online symposium on Afghan migration in the UK. GDI Research Centre.

April 2023. Online presentation on fieldwork in Mexico City for the project “Women on the run: experiences and journeys of women across Mexico”. With A. Díaz de León. Center for US–Mexican Studies (University of California San Diego, US) and College of Mexico (Mexico).

December 2022. In person presentation in “Afghanistan in Stasis: On Crises and Ways Forward” workshop. Violence, Peace and Development Research Cluster at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

November 2022. Video In Conversation with… Interview with Louise Ryan. London Metropolitan University.

November 2022. Presentation ‘Afghan migrants in London: accessing support in hostile times’. Home Office. London.

September 2022. Report launch ‘Afghan migrants in London: accessing support in hostile times’. Islington Council. London.

June 2022. International Migration Research Network (IMISCOE) Annual Conference (Oslo), ‘Authors meet critics: migration and the transfer of informal human capital. Insights from Central Europe and Mexico (Routledge 2022)’.

May 2022. Book launch Gender Violence in Twenty-First-Century Latin American Women’s Writing (2022). ‘Violence against women under COVID times: institutional machismo in Mexico’. GDIRC, London Metropolitan University.  

October 2021. ‘Vivas las queremos. Gender violence in the Mexican border’. Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. https://www.vivaslasqueremos.net/events-1 and at London Metropolitan.

June 2021. Organiser and chair of online seminar presentation, ‘Journalism and human rights in Mexico: how to preserve voices of the killed’. GDIRC, London Metropolitan University. 

May 2021. Online presentation. ‘Political violence against women in Latin America’, part of ‘Reorienting cultural creativity: economic femininity and gender violence’. Organised by the Centre for Creative Arts, Cultures and Engagement (CREATURE) and the GDIRC, London Metropolitan University.  

March 2021. Online presentation. ‘Migration and sexual violence in the northern Mexican border’, Critical Studies of Law and Migration Seminar. Organised by the Center for Research on North America (CISAN) and the Institute of Juridical Research (IIJ) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). 

October 2020. ‘Learning from south to north: thinking and practice on violence against women in the Global South’. Organised by the GDIRC, London Metropolitan University.

September 2020. Video recording ‘Maquiladoras in Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic’. LACC, LSE. 

May 2020. Online presentation. ‘Public policy on violence against women during COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico’. Organised by ITAM (Mexico). 

October 2018 and November 2019. ‘Sexual violence and femicide at the US–Mexico frontier under Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s policies’. School for Cross-Faculty Studies, Global Sustainable Development, Warwick University.

February 2018. ‘Gender, Millennium Development Goals and post-2015 agenda GAD, WID and gender mainstreaming’. International Centre for Parliamentary Studies, London.

May 2017. Presentation. ‘Terrorized women at home: the case of femicide in Ciudad Juárez (Mexico)’. International Gender Studies Centre, Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford. 

March 2017. ‘Female leading voices in twenty-first-century Argentina: Claudia Piñeiro and Selva Almada’. Institute of Latin American Studies / Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London.

April 2016. ‘LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers in the UK’, School of Oriental and African Studies and Evelyn Oldfield Unit event on Challenges for LGBTQ Refugees and Asylum Seekers, University of London.

June 2015. ‘Mexican women on the border: dangers of la frontera’. Human Rights and Social Justice Research Institute (HRSJ), London Metropolitan University.

March 2015. ‘Memory and regime in twenty-first-century Spanish women’s literature: Dulce Chacón and Almudena Grandes’. Working Lives Institute, London Metropolitan University.

February 2014. ‘Homosexuality as a destabilising weapon in the contemporary Cuban novel: Pedro Juan Gutiérrez and Leonardo Padura Fuentes’. ACLAIIR event on 21C Latin American Fiction, Institute of Modern Languages Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London.

January 2013. ‘The myth and reality of exile: testimonial literature in the diaspora’. Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London.

December 2012. ‘Homosexuality and reconciliation in contemporary Cuban literature: Pedro Juan Gutiérrez and Padura Fuentes’. Queen Mary University.

April 2011. ‘A failed attempt to reconcile the Cuban population: Gutiérrez Alea’s Fresa y Chocolate’. SLAS annual conference, University of St Andrews.

April 2011. ‘Homophobia, migration and national identity: the pains of nostalgia and invisibility in Cuba’. Part of the international symposium Cuba Futures: Past and Present, The Graduate Center, CUNY.

December 2010. ‘Searching for boundaries: female social exclusion in the Caribbean’. International Forum ‘1959–2009: Regards sur 50 ans de vie culturelle avec la revolution cubaine’. Organised by the University of Paris IV Sorbonne/Crimic EA 2561, the University of Paris Est/Lisaa EA 4120 and the Colegio de España, France.

Dr María López

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