This research project proposes an in-depth study on the role of ethnicity in the development of contemporary urban life. A comparative analysis is proposed, based on four observation units distributed in Latin America (Brazil and Argentina) and in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). The project includes a systematic document review work and four specific phases of ethnographic field work. Over the course of its six-year term, the preliminary and final results are expected to be disseminated, mainly through the organization of scientific events and the publication of original works in specialized journals and books by renowned publishers. The development of the project is also oriented towards the consolidation and expansion of an international network of researchers around the study of ethnicity in urban contexts in Europe and Latin America.

The overall aim of this proposal is to create a transnational interdisciplinary research and training network between European and Latin American Universities and Research centres in order to promote transfer of knowledge and to produce innovative research in the field of the multilevel governance of cultural diversity in a comparative perspective.

Immigrant associations are assuming important roles in the integration process of the groups they represent. During the last years these roles have been mostly studied from the perspective of the institutional system of the host society. However, it has been less studied the role these associations play in relation to the political cultures of the immigrants themselves. In my PhD thesis both topics were analyzed observing the case of Latin American immigrants associations in Seville. The objective is now to observe the immigrant associational landscape of three groups in Lisbon –Brazilians, Cape Verdeans and Angolans- and to make a comparative analysis with the case of other three groups in Seville –Ecuadorians, Bolivians and Peruvians-. This project will be developed within the CIES-ISCTE and is expected to be carried out for three years.