Laura Yaneth Rivera Revelo is a lecturer and postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Public Law and International Law at Justus Liebig University Giessen in Germany. She holds a law degree and a degree in sociology from the University of Nariño (Colombia). She holds a Master's degree in Constitutional Law and a Doctorate in Law from the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar (UASB) in Quito. She has worked as a university lecturer and researcher in law, social sciences, and postgraduate programs in Ecuador, Colombia, and Germany. She has also served as a legal advisor and consultant on human rights, gender, and migration projects for international cooperation agencies.

Her research focuses on critical studies of law and legal sociology, with the most relevant topics being:

•       Social inequalities, access to justice, and legal pluralism

•       Transitional justice, memory studies, peacebuilding, and human rights

•       Critical feminism, care policies, and migration

Research project as CALAS fellow (Knowledge Laboratory “A region in motion: Accelerated human mobility and multiple circulations in Latin America and the Caribbean”)

Title: Migrant memories on the Colombian-Ecuadorian border: power, identity, and the reproduction of social inequalities

Abstract: The research project seeks to strengthen studies on “Migrant Memories” (Creet and Kitzmann, 2014; Palmberger and Tošić, 2016) in relation to the reproduction of social inequalities and the guarantee or denial of human rights. More specifically, it seeks to investigate how the effects on material life during, before, and after migration impact the subjectivities and collective identities of a group of Venezuelan women in an irregular migration situation who intend to remain in the Colombian-Ecuadorian border municipality of Ipiales in the Department of Nariño. Based on this case study, the research will analyze structural problems in three areas in which these impacts transcend life experiences and the particular case study. In this sense, the research contributes especially to the different research areas of CALAS:
1) Reproduction of social and gender inequalities/widening of social gaps. 
2) Guarantee and/or denial of human rights (expansion of citizenship) 
3) Recognition, status, identity, and social representation (migrant memories)

The case study is geographically located on the Colombian-Ecuadorian border, an important migration corridor for Colombia and Ecuador where multiple national identities (Colombian, Ecuadorian, Venezuelan, Haitian), various legal and illegal orders, and a plurality of actors in the migrant universe converge. The population under study is made up of a group of Venezuelan women, adults, adolescents, and girls in an irregular migration situation who intend to remain in the municipality of Ipiales-Nariño. The research strategy is based on the qualitative methods of Participatory Action Research (PAR), seeking to produce knowledge from a horizontal perspective with regard to the role of the subjects of study as co-researchers. This gives rise to methodological considerations that prioritize the systematization of experiences, the dialogue of knowledge, and reflection on social practice together with popular education.