Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling

We’re immensely pleased to invite you to join us for a talk by Professor Jason De León from UCLA. The talk is part of the School of Archaeology Lecture Series.

Please register here by 27 November

Abstract

In 2014, Mexico (with financial and logistical support from the Obama administration) launched Programa Frontera Sur, a security enforcement project to stop Central American migrants from reaching the U.S./Mexico border. In response to this heightened security, migrants have turned to transnational gangs such as MS-13 who have become increasingly involved in the human smuggling industry over the last decade. In this talk, I discuss my new book "Soldiers and Kings", a long-term ethnographic study focused on understanding the daily lives of Honduran smugglers who profit from transporting migrants across the length of Mexico. Using the stories of several smugglers, I examine the relationship between transnational gangs and the clandestine migration industry, the brutal toll that migration plays on people's bodies, and the difficulties of doing ethnography in this violent and ethically challenging context. 

Bio

Jason De León is a Professor of Anthropology and Chicana, Chicano, and Central American Studies and Director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also Executive Director of the Undocumented Migration Project, a research-arts-education non-profit focused on raising awareness about issues related to migration and assisting families of missing migrants search for their loved ones. De León is the Head Curator of the ongoing global exhibition “Hostile Terrain 94” and author of the award-winning book “The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail.” He is a 2017 MacArthur Fellow and his new book "Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling" was published by Viking in March of 2024 and long-listed for the National Book Award.  

Drinks and snacks will follow the talk.

All are welcome!