We are drawn together by a common interest in the Spanish Republican Exile and the desire to develop the research and teaching of twentieth-century refugee studies.
Over the last decade commemorative events and exhibitions in Britain, France and Spain have reflected increasing interest into the plight of refugees, notably in relation to the ‘official’ end of the Spanish Civil War and of the outbreak of the Second World War.
There has also been a growing trend to commemorate immigrants’ pasts more generally within Europe and beyond. This has often involved eulogising the memory of ‘integration’ thereby diverting attention away from both painful memories of the past and from the contemporary crisis of asylum. In light of these events, the Exilio Network provides a critical voice for the production, discussion and exchange of ideas pertaining to the study of refugees in twentieth-century Europe.