The University of Arizona Press
May 6, 2026
The University of Arizona Press’ latest podcast features an interview with Arely M. Zimmerman, author of Contentious Citizenship: Salvadoran Activism and Belonging Across Borders. Zimmerman is associate professor in the Intercollegiate Department of Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies at Pomona College. She earned her PhD in political science from University of California, Los Angeles and has been a Mellon postdoctoral fellow in social movements at University of Southern California, and a Latino/a Studies Faculty Fellow at New York University.
Asked about the origin story for the book, Zimmerman answered, “I remember the first time I heard the testimonios of some of the people featured in the book. As the daughter of Salvadorans who immigrated prior to the civil war, I felt a connection to their stories. But I was also surprised that I had never heard of the activism that had taken place in the 1980s through the sanctuary and solidarity movement. This is when I was an undergrad in college, and these testimonios sparked my curiosity and a deep desire to understand what took place. My hope is that this book will fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge about Salvadoran migrant activists.”
Listen to the full podcast here.
About the book:
Contentious Citizenship reshapes how we understand belonging, identity, and political participation in the context of migration. Drawing on decades of Salvadoran activism from the 1980s solidarity movement to the post–civil war era, Arely M. Zimmerman offers a powerful ethnographic account of how migrants challenge exclusionary state practices and redefine citizenship on their own terms using transnational networks and revolutionary politics that transcend borders.
Drawing on nearly fifty interviews with activists who fled El Salvador, Zimmerman traces how political refugees carried with them strategies of resistance and community organizing that shaped social justice movements in the United States. The book addresses the political turmoil and grassroots mobilizations in El Salvador, the sanctuary movement of the 1980s, contemporary activism, and the impact of women’s strategies and forms of resistance.
