The seminar will present a book in honour of LAC-St Antony’s Emeritus Fellow Alan Angell. Alan joined the Latin American Centre in 1966 after spending a year in Colombia with UNESCO and previously lecturing at the University of Keele. He retired in 2006. His work primarily focused on Chile. Following the 1973 coup in that country, Alan managed a programme for academic refugees from Chile. He also wrote extensively on various aspects of Chilean democracy and the left in Latin America.

The volume is a tribute to Alan’s commitment to human rights during the 50 years since the coup. It begins with an essay by Alan, a personal and historical account of life under the dictatorship, highlighting the pervasive atmosphere of fear and repression. The essays that follow include: an account by Gloria Miqueles of her experience as a Chilean political exile in the UK and the role that Alan and others played in building a transnational solidarity network and providing support for hundreds of students and academics in the UK fleeing political persecution in Chile; a study by Richard D. Wilkinson situating Alan’s academic and advocacy contributions within the broader framework of UK solidarity campaigns and human rights advocacy; Valentina Infante-Batiste’s chapter on the Pinochet’s legacy in Chile today; an analysis of the coup’s 50th anniversary events in 2023 by Marcela Ríos Tobar; an overview of transitional justice and human rights struggles in Chile within the broader South American framework by Antonia Urrejola and Alexandro Álvarez; an assessment of the human rights judicial processes in Chile by Cath Collins and Francisco Bustos; a study of the emergence of ‘a right against rights’ in Chile by Simón Escoffier, René González, Leigh A. Payne, and Julia Zulver; an understanding of the 2019 social uprising and State responses by Hugo Rojas Corral; and an epilogue by Carlos Huneeus reflecting on Angell’s lifelong dedication to Chilean studies and his profound impact on the academic and human rights community.

This book is part of the St Antony’s Palgrave Macmillan series founded in 1977. It is the first volume in the series’ new ‘Fresh Riff’ initiative, a tribute to Centre fellows who have made a significant contribution to academic life in the College, the University, and in the world. These volumes will form part of the College’s 75th anniversary, and the 50th anniversary of St Antony’s Palgrave Macmillan series.