Blinded by Neo-Colonial Lights: Exposing Hidden Histories of South-North Academic Migration

The migration North of relatively privileged Global South citizens is part of a power-laden global dynamic that situates thriving in Global North countries as the end goal of a trajectory of progress. In this article, I draw from Anzaldúa and Rivera Cusicanqui to use what I call autohistoria-teoría in ch’ixi key to historicise my experience as a Chilean academic who migrated to the UK. When I came to the UK, I was keenly aware of Chile’s colonial past with Spain, but ignorantly – an ignorance carefully sustained by (neo)colonial cultural and educational systems – I thought our relationship to the UK was more neutral; after all, they were not our colonisers. In this paper, I ask: What histories have been obscured, ignored, or distorted to dazzle a Global South citizen like me into following neo-colonial lights? And, what might happen to my sense of self when these histories are made visible?