This lecture will be live streamed.

In 2018, the Nicaraguan government repressed mass protests, forcing some 100,000 people into political exile. This lecture examines the experiences of refugees who fled to Costa Rica and the United States as an entry point for understanding webs of hemispheric violence rooted in capitalist accumulation and regional security and immigration policy. Refugees’ stories suggest that dominant narratives about the crisis elide the root causes of violence and any real vision of a more just future for the Americas.

Our speaker, Jennifer Goett is Associate Professor of Comparative Cultures and Politics at Michigan State University and author of Black Autonomy: Race, Gender, and Afro-Nicaraguan Activism (Stanford 2016). Her work examines grassroots social movements, state violence, land dispossession, and infrastructure megaprojects in Central America. Her most recent project focuses on Nicaraguan asylum seekers in Costa Rica and the United States. In addition, she works as a pro bono expert witness for asylum cases in U.S. immigration court.

This is the fourth a six-lecture series. The subject of the series is Central America: Coffee to Caravans. The next lecture will occur May 11, 2021. The title is: Economic Profile of Central America. Learn from well-known experts about an array of interesting subjects, with an interactive Q&A period following each lecture.

Preregistration is required via the OLLI website or phone. A link to access the lecture will be e-mailed to you approximately one week prior to the first session.