In conversation with Refugio Latinoamericano, Madrid-based writer and activist Lucía Nistal explores issues such as migration, literature, racism, feminist activism and other topics that have shaped her career and education. Drawing on her perspective as a literary theorist, she critically examines how capitalism benefits from the exploitation of displaced people and encourages resistance to contest all spaces, from the streets to social media. ‍

Heritage and literature as starting points‍

Lucía Nistal, who holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from the Autonomous University of Madrid, is a feminist activist, university professor and writer. She was born in Madrid in 1989. She is a member of Pan y Rosas and the Revolutionary Workers' Current (CRT) in Spain. Her studies focus on literature written by migrants and gave rise to her book La Literatura de los Desplazados (The Literature of the Displaced). Her career encompasses both academia and activism/organised struggle.

Lucía sees migration as an experience that directly affects her: her grandmother was born in Cuba, the daughter of Spanish migrants who settled on the Caribbean island as workers in precarious conditions.‍

“Three generations ago, it was rare to find someone who did not have a grandfather or great-grandfather who had gone to Argentina, Mexico or Cuba to do precarious work. And yet, that is quickly forgotten when the far right and racism grow,” she says, both saddened and determined to change the systemic marginalisation of populations who have been forced to leave their country of origin out of necessity.

This family history is what fuels and is intrinsically linked to her research: challenging the status quo of stigma and social exclusion of those who have been forced to emigrate, rescuing their voices and raising first-person narratives about forced displacement, structural racism and patriarchal violence.

“For years, people talked about migrants, but not from their perspective.”

Among the authors who have explored this issue in depth, she recommends Peruvian writer Gabriela Wiener and Meryem El Mehdati, a native of Morocco, who write from the nexus between personal memory and the denunciation of contemporary colonialism and imperialism.‍

Argentina and her experience at the International Human Rights Film Festival ‍

Last June, Lucía was invited to be a member of the jury at the 21st International Human Rights Film Festival, held in Buenos Aires. She travelled to Argentina to take part in a social and political film festival, but her experience in the country transcended the cultural sphere and immersed her fully in the political spectrum of the Argentine left. She recognises the value of cinema as a vehicle for raising awareness but warns of its material limitations. She also identifies the inescapable reality that it is still a space that lacks stories based on personal experience. ‍

“In cinema, I think there are still many films about migration, but they are not made by migrants. (...) Well, in literature I do find first-person accounts. In cinema, it is usually a Spanish director who decides to tell this story. And that has consequences, because the narratives are sometimes paternalistic, sentimental…"

She also emphasises the courage of the festival and its defiant spirit, given that it is taking place in a political context characterised by threats and frontal attacks on human rights.‍

“I thought it was a very brave festival, especially in the current political context, opening with a film about Palestine while Milei was travelling to see Netanyahu. It was like being in the right place.”

Another highlight of her stay in Argentina was her meeting with political leaders and, above all, her exchange with Myriam Bregman, whom she recognises as a key figure on the Argentine left and for her active commitment to both feminism and denouncing the genocide in Palestine. The trip also allowed her to exchange ideas with artists and activists outside the academic circuit.‍

“Leaving the academic and university world to meet people who are active in the cultural sphere is very enriching.”

Xenophobia, capitalism and resistance ‍

For Lucía, racism and xenophobia are not only links in a chain that serves capitalism, but are also key elements in its adherence and hierarchical expansion over other models.

“It divides the working class, allows for greater exploitation and keeps it in a state of absolute insecurity.”

She warns of cases in Spain, where xenophobic discourse has validated the persecution and harassment of migrants, even while large landowners profit from their labour in conditions of semi-slavery.

She asserts that the European Union's Migration and Asylum Pact and immigration laws legitimise deportations, militarise borders and transform human displacement into a vicious business with no feasible short-term solution.

“It is not a question of reforming an article: we must open the borders and guarantee the right to migrate.”

It is inevitable to delve deeper into the Palestinian question and the current genocide. Although the state of apartheid in the marginalised territory has centuries-old roots of persecution, discrimination and constant attacks on human rights, since October 2023, the situation has ceased to be covert and has become a treacherous humanitarian catastrophe. This is where the role and impact of social media comes into play. Although it explicitly exposes the atrocities committed by the Israeli army, it does not seem to be enough to stop the massacre in Palestine. Nistal is categorical: ‍

“It is the greatest demonstration of the horror that imperialism can reach. And not only because of Israel, founded on occupation, but because of the active complicity of all the imperialist governments that finance it and sell it weapons.”

Lucía has not lost faith. She stresses how necessary it is for popular solidarity to materialise in concrete actions and lists tangible ways of demonstrating against the Israeli government, its allies and other complicit entities that finance the genocide: putting pressure on trade unions, promoting strikes against arms shipments, cutting exports and paralysing ports.‍

Social media as an ideological trench‍

When discussing the novel role of digital media and its implications for addressing political and social issues, the Madrid native insists that the left and the resistance cannot and must not give up on the virtual platform. Social media, she says, is another battleground:‍

“I'm not going to give that space to Zionists, racists and the far right. What is posted on social media can inspire someone to attend a demonstration or get organised. It's an ideological battle that must be fought.”

Currently, her activism is mainly focused on strengthening the Revolutionary Workers' Current (CRT) and the feminist group Pan y Rosas, both in Spain and on the global stage, fighting against resignation and collective fatigue in the face of the advance of the far right:

“They want to convince us that we have to settle for anyone who is not the far right, but no. We have to build a real alternative: for workers, migrants, young people, women and LGBT people.”‍

This is not goodbye‍

At the end of the talk, the writer says she would love to return to Argentina to strengthen and continue the collective struggle.

“The organisation I am involved with here is part of a network of organisations in different countries. And in Argentina, it is the PTS, our sister organisation."

Lucía Nistal and her comprehensive approach to studying the phenomenon of forced displacement demonstrate her ability to grasp the fundamental pillars of the issue and correlate them harmoniously, allowing for the opening of debates and the proposal of alternatives.

Not only her work in the field of research, but also her efforts at active mobilisation and her campaign for the defence of human rights transcend borders to materialise in an organised and active international struggle. She leads by example: there are no borders for her ideas, her civic commitment and her political and social determination. Lucía is convinced that this struggle is not lost; now more than ever, we must mobilise in public spaces.

Her participation in the film festival, her research on migrant literature and her feminist battle are intertwined in the same scheme: challenging paradigms, opening spaces and building new horizons.

“We can organise ourselves, we can take action. Politics is not the preserve of those who govern against the majority: it also belongs to us, from the bottom up.”

Her book La Literatura de los Desplazados (The Literature of the Displaced), in which she explores the convergence between migration and literature, is available on the Villa de Indianos website. She also educates and raises awareness on her Instagram accounts @lucianistal, X @lucia_nistal and TikTok @lucia_nistal. ‍

Translated from Spanish by Eponine Howarth.