Belén Agrela Romero

Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Jaén
Spain

IRiS Host Academic: Professor Jenny Phillimore
Length of stay: July - September (3 months)
ORCID

Biography

Local director (in the University of Jaén) of the inter-universities PhD Program: Migration Studies. This program is coordinated by the University Institute of Migrations (University of Granada):

Lecturer in a number of Masters Degree, teaching on gender, migration and social work.

Her key areas of research include gender, families and migration, from a Social Work perspective. I’m interesting in how social services (public and private) are solving the needs caused by crisis situations and the diverse strategies of survival that these families (especially women) are developing.

Belen conducts research on understandings of Social Work Practices as cultural texts on meaning about (super)diversity. She studies on social work practices with migrants and how States (through their policies, social welfare agencies and social workers on the front line) incorporate the notion of mobile population into the philosophy of the States, as well as how the notion of (super)diversity is related to migration and to otherness in overrepresented culturalist terms.

Currently, she is involved in the European research project: “Proximity on Violence: Defence and Equity” (Justice Programme, REC-VAW-AG-2016), financed by the European Commission (2017-2019). Coordinated by: Ignazia Bartholini (University of Palermo, Italy), developed in Italy, Spain, Belgium and France.

Research interests

  • Gender, families and migration
  • Social work responses to migration
  • Welfare regimes, social service programs, migration and gender

Planned activities whilst at IRiS

Belén plans

  • To learn about the research projects developed in IRiS
  • To take part in the IRiS International Conference, 2017
  • To build links between the University of Birmingham and the University of Jaén, particularly for students interested in the study of migration.
  • She is also interested in developing future research partners for funding applications.
  • To take a Superdiversity approach working with female migrants in Spain

Latest publications

Agrela Romero, B. y Morales Villena (2017) Knowledge Hierarchy of Social Work and Gender Studies in Spain. Affilia. Journal of Women and Social Work, vol 32, Issue 3 (276-291)

Agrela Romero, Belén; Guitiérrez Casal, Camino; Fernández Contreras, Teresa (2017) Repensar la ética en Trabajo Social desde una perspectiva de género. Cuadernos de Trabajo Social, 30 (1), (51-64)

Agrela Romero, Belén (2012) Towards a Model of Externalisation and Denationalisation of Care? The Role of Female Migrant Care Workers for Dependent Older People in Spain. European Journal of Social Work, 17 (45-61)

Fuentes Gutiérrez, Virginia y Agrela Romero, B. (2018, forthcoming) Circuitos de precariedad de las cuidadoras bolivianos en España: implicaciones familiares y supervivencias transnacionales. Migraciones Internacionales, num.34, vol.9 (enero-junio)

Fuentes Gutiérrez, V. y Agrela Romero, B. (2016) Migración femenina de “larga duración” y acuerdos de cuidados. Una mirada desde el Trabajo Social en origen y destino. Trabajo Social Global, vol. 6 (11), (31-53)

Fuentes Gutiérrez, Virginia, y Agrela Romero, Belén (2015) Título: La violencia institucional sobre las mujeres: del marianismo y sus restricciones a la movilidad. Reflexiones sobre el caso de las migrantes bolivianas y sus familias. Athenea Digital, 4 (81-104)

Pedone, Claudia; Agrela Romero, Belén y Sandra Gil Araujo (2012) Políticas públicas, migración y familia. Una mirada desde el género. Papers. Revista de Sociología, 97/3 (541-568).