Dr. Anna Grimaldi

Profile

I joined the POLIS team in June 2022 as a Lecturer in Politics and International Relations.

Prior to this, I held lecturing positions in History and International Development at King’s College London. I received my joint PhD in Global Affairs from the University of São Paulo and King’s College London.

With a background in languages, cultural studies, history, and international relations my research, publications, and teaching draws on a range of disciplines and methods.

I am an Editor at Brasiliana - Journal for Brazilian Studies, Treasurer of ABRE (Associação de Brasilianistas na Europa), and member of the Radical Americas. I am an affiliate of King’s Brazil Institute and a member of the King’s Observatorium on Democracy in Latin America (KODLA).

Research interests

My research looks at the formation of transnational networks of solidarity with the Global South. I am particularly interested in how Latin America, including Brazil, contributed to this phenomenon during the latter half of the 20^th century through exile solidarity and human rights advocacy.

Based on my doctoral research in this area, I am publishing a book titled Brazil and the Transnational Human Rights Movement 1964-1985, due in October 2022, which looks at how Brazilian concepts, ideas, and practices shaped the global human rights movement of the 1970s. I have also published on the related topics of liberation theology, pedagogy of the oppressed, and indigenous rights, see below publications. 

I am also interested in the concept of Tricontinentalism, in particular its manifestation in current-day visual, embodied, and cultural artefacts of the Global South. To these ends, I am co-producing a special issue of Bandung: Journal of the Global South, as part of a broader collaborative project titled Remembering a Tricontinental Past. 

I draw significant inspiration from Brazilian educator and philosopher, Paulo Freire, to develop liberatonist and decolonial pedagogical practices that guide both my research and teaching. 

In 2016, I co-founded Thinking Inside the Box, which held its first student-led exhibition in 2022. The project brings together students and local communities to connect with archival collections from around the globe – particularly posters and political pamphlets dealing with social justice and human rights struggles. I also teach with the Brilliant Club, a widening participation programme, and CityLit, a further education charity.

Qualifications

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• PhD Global Affairs (King's College London KBI/University of São Paulo IRI)
• MSc in Brazilian Studies (King's College London Brazil Institute)
• BA in Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American Studies (King's College London)

Professional memberships

• Society of Latin American Studies (SLAS)
• Association of Brazilianists in Europe (ABRE)
• Radical Americas