PhD research project
2003-2008
Funding: FPU PhD research grant
My PhD dissertation, «¡Esto parece Cuba! Prácticas musicales y cubanía en la diáspora cubana de Barcelona«, examined the intricate relationship between migration, musical practices, and urban experience through the lens of the Cuban diaspora in Barcelona, Spain. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, the research revealed how music serves as a powerful medium through which migrants create distinctive social spaces where they become both visible and audible to themselves and others.
The study demonstrated how Cuban immigrants use music as a critical resource to develop new social environments where they can exercise agency within their host society. This case illuminates how participation in specific musical practices profoundly shapes migrants’ experience of and relationship with their new urban environment. It also documents how these musical engagements significantly impact Barcelona’s social, cultural, and musical landscape, contributing to both material and symbolic transformations of the city.
This research contributes to broader scholarly understanding of how diasporic communities navigate and reshape urban spaces through cultural practices. CSIC subsequently published the dissertation as a book , extending its reach to academic and public audiences interested in migration studies, ethnomusicology, and urban anthropology.
