Zach Aguilar

Zach’s research is focused primarily on Italian migration to South America from a cultural studies perspective. Utilizing the ample historical data on Italian migration between the 19th and 20th centuries, his work investigates the role Italian migrants played in the burgeoning post-colonial economies and national identities of countries like Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. Specifically, his research is focused on questions pertaining to racial formation and settler colonialism. His work investigates the intersections of class, race, and ethnicity in large cosmopolitan centers, as well as the development of Italian agricultural “colonies” in rural areas from the pampa to the altiplano. Using primary sources (travelogues, diaries, newspaper articles) next to cultural texts (literature, popular song, film), Zach’s research seeks to elucidate the mechanisms of race, labor, and cultural production that allowed Italian emigrants to become key subjects in South American settler colonial projects, as well as their lasting political impacts.