Young Adults of Latin American Origin in London and Oxford: Identities, Discrimination and Social Inclusion

The arrival of families from Latin America has in recent years shaped a new social and cultural setting in the UK. Young adult members of these families, either born in the UK or having emigrated at an early age, carry out a socialisation and enculturation process with bicultural references in a context of inequality, discriminatory practices and assimilationist discourses. However, the results of research carried out with young ten adults of Latin American origin in Oxford and London confirm that they construct flexible identities, which are open and mixed and which allow them to have a double sense of belonging: to their country of origin and to the UK. These new identities give these young people, who are the active players in the construction of a society based on interethnic relations, social and cultural capital.