Being migrants in urban agriculture initiatives
Experiences of (un)belonging in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
Research on urban agriculture (UA) has revealed that alongside the opportunities these spaces open for community building, UA can also (re)produce exclusionary practices, especially towards minority groups. Engaging with critical debates, we conducted a collective autoethnography project to explore the nuances of joining UA as Latin American femme-presenting migrants of colour in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. We discussed how weaving critical race theory and collective autoethnography helped us reflect and amplify our counter-stories and understanding of racial oppression that come from having a shared experience of being othered and excluded. By pushing academic thinking, we have challenged the dominant ideologies of meritocracy, colour-blindness, race neutrality and equal opportunity in Aotearoa while centring on a stance of racial justice. In the context of Māori—tauiwi of colour relationships, we beleive that connecting to different forms of racialisation and oppression can be a channel to build solidarities based on decolonisation and antiracism (Rata & Al-Asaad, 2019).
Related publications and engament activities
Braga Bizarria, M. T., Palomino‐Schalscha, M., Sánchez Bolívar, I. (2024). The spatiality of Collective Autoethnography: Praxis of care and (co)becoming. Emotion, Space and Society. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2024.101043 [Scientific paper]
Palomino‐Schalscha, M., Braga Bizarria, M. T., & Sánchez-Bolívar, I. (2023). Racism in Paradise: Being migrants in urban agriculture initiatives in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand Geographer. https://doi.org/10.1111/nzg.12380 [Scientific paper]
Sánchez-Bolívar, I., Braga Bizarria, M. T., Palomino‐Schalscha, M. (2025). Beyond resilience: cultivating hope in the face of racism as Latinas in Aotearoa. Working to End Racial Oppression (WERO) Conference, Waikato, New Zealand. [Conference paper]
Sánchez-Bolívar, I., Braga Bizarria, M. T., Palomino‐Schalscha, M. (2025). Beyond resilience: cultivating hope in the face of racism as Latinas in Aotearoa. Working to End Racial Oppression (WERO) Conference, Waikato, New Zealand. [Conference paper]
Palomino‐Schalscha, M., Braga Bizarria, M. T., Sánchez-Bolívar, I. (2024). Racism in Paradise: building safe spaces and solidarity in the context of Māori and tauiwi of colour relationships. Te Tiriti-Based Futures and Anti-Racism Conference, online. [Conference paper]
Braga Bizarria, M. T., Palomino‐Schalscha, M., Sánchez-Bolívar, I. (2022). Interfaces between Collective Autoethnography and Embodied Geographies as migrant women: shared spaces of resistance, resilience and solidarity. Biennial New Zealand Geographical Society (NZGS) Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand. [Conference paper]