María E López

María Encarnación López is Professor of Sociology in the School of Social Sciences and Professions. She is Deputy Director of the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre at London Metropolitan and Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Security, Intelligence and Governance (Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México). She is editor of the series Violence in the Hispanic and Lusophone Worlds, published by Tamesis Publishing House (Boydell & Brewer LTD).

Dr María López

María E. López

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

Professor López joined London Metropolitan University in 2007 as a Lecturer in Latin American and Spanish Studies, and was Head of the Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies for five years. She joined the School of Social Sciences in 2014, where she has taught the sociology of sex and gender, Latin American politics, political violence, human rights, and racism and ethnicity at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
 
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 build the University research environment and support the University’s mission of equity and social justice.
 
She researches the dynamics of violence developed by governments, state forces and criminal powers against marginalised communities in several global areas. Her research interests focus on the inequalities affecting gendered, sexualised and racialised communities in hostile global environments, such as the LGBTQ+ community in Cuba, migrant women in transit through Mexico, and Afghan and Syrian refugees in the UK.
 
Professor López's Visiting Fellowship at the LSE Latin American and Caribbean Centre (2017–2020) allowed her to meet a network of international experts on the ethical and political debate on security provision in Mexico, with whom she is currently involved in several research projects. In her role as Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Security, Intelligence, and Governance, Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM) (from 2019), she is developing research work on the violence against women in Mexico and Cuba. The Center for US–Mexican Studies, University of California San Diego, US (2022-2023), has awarded Professor López funding for

Professor López teaches and supervises in the sociology of gender and sexuality, migration and racism and ethnicity.

Books (authored)

  1. López, M.E. and Stephen M. Hart (2022) Gender Violence in Twenty-First-Century Latin American Women's WritingWoodbridge: Tamesis, Boydell & Brewer. In print. ISSN: 2752-308X (print); ISSN: 2752-3098 (online). ISBN 9781855663169.
  2. López, M.E. (2015) Homosexuality and Invisibility in Revolutionary Cuba: Reinaldo Arenas and Tomás Gutiérrez AleaWoodbridge: Tamesis, Boydell & Brewer. ISBN: 9781855662889.

Selected articles and book chapters

  1. López, M. E. (2023) ‘Global relations and workers at the border’. In Brian McDonough and Jane Parry (eds.), Sociology, Work and Organisations: A Global Context. London: Routledge. Forthcoming.
  2. López, M. E. and L. 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.” Vol 8 (February). Open Access.
  3. López, María E. (2022), 'We are tired of being told it is not a big deal': Institutional Machismo in Mexico', Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (GJIA).
  4. López, María E. (2022) ‘Governance on violence against women in the necropolitical border: the case of Ciudad Juárez’, in Romero V. and Tello Peón, J. (eds.) Seguridad, Inteligencia y Gobernanza en México: Propuestas a Problemas (Mexico City: Tirant Lo Blanche), pp. 187-201.
  5. López, M. E. (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).
  6. López, M.E. (2017) ‘Homosexuality and homophobia in Europe’, in Isaacs, S. (ed.) European Social ProblemsLondon: Routledge, pp. 220–236. ISBN: 9781138919938.
  7. López, M.E. (2016) ‘La revolución cubana en transición: Estados Unidos, democracia, derechos humanos y el Papa Francisco’ (‘The Cuban Revolution: the US, democracy, human rights and Pope Francis’), Otro lunes. Revista Hispanoamericana de Cultura, [Electronic], 40:10. ISSN-2174-1425
  8. López, María E. (2014) ‘Reinaldo Arenas: the spokesman of the invisible community’, in Font, M.A. and Tinajero, A. (eds.) Handbook on Cuban History, Literature, and the ArtsNew Perspectives on Historical and Contemporary Social Change. New York and London: Routledge, pp. 73–96. ISBN: 978161205679.

Other publications

  1. Lopez, María E. (2022), ‘“This is a Mexican problem, not a women’s issue”: necropolitics at the US–Mexican border’. London Metropolitan University. (8 March).
  2. Lopez, María E. and Louise Ryan (2021) ‘Bodies at borders: Why it is vital to humanise migrants’, European Politics and Policy (EUROPP-LSE) (2 December)

 

 

 

María has been awarded the following research grants:
 
2023: Center for US–Mexican Studies, University of California San Diego, US ($16,120) 'Women on the Run: Narrating Violence against Women in Transit Through Mexico'
2023: Islington Evaluation Project (£42,837) 'An evaluation of the Syrian and Afghan resettlement programmes in Islington'; GDIR Centre.
2022: Transformation Grant (£25,000) ‘Afghan migrants in London: accessing support in hostile times’; GDIR Centre.
2020: Research Grant (£3,000). School of Social Sciences, London Metropolitan University.
2019: Research and publication expenses (£2,000). School of Social Sciences, London Metropolitan University.
2015: Research and publication expenses (£1,500). London Metropolitan University.
2008: PhD studentship (£6,000). The Graduate Centre, University College London.

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

 
 
Member (2014-2017). Cuba Project, Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies, The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY).
 
Member of the Editorial Board of Tamesis Publishing House.
 
Editor for the Violence in the Hispanic and Lusophone Worlds series in Tamesis Publishing House (Boydell & Brewer LTD)

Dr María López
Professor of Sociology

School of Social Sciences and Professions

London Metropolitan University

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