Amy Reed-Sandoval, "Socially Undocumented: Identity and Immigration Justice" (Oxford UP, 2020)
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Hi everyone, this is Marshall Poe. I'm the founder of the New Books Network, and I'm also a historian. I used to be a history professor, and I love maps. So I'm especially happy to tell you that this episode is sponsored by What's Your Map, which was the winner of the best education podcast at the 2025 British Podcast Awards. What's Your Map is hosted by historian and prize-winning author, Professor Jerry Broughton. In each episode, he invites a guest to share. A map close to their heart and unfurl the ideas, inspirations, and stories behind it. I can tell you I've listened and it's fascinating. The podcast is in its sixth series and is enjoyed by audiences around the globe. You can explore all the maps in the podcast at occulehyphenmundi.com while you listen.
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Hello and welcome to New Books and Philosophy, a podcast channel with the New Books Network. I'm Sarah Tyson, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado, Denver, and I'm co-host of the channel along with Carrie Figtor, Robert Talise, and Alexis McLeod. Together we bring you conversations with philosophers about their new books, drawing from a wide range of areas of contemporary philosophical inquiry. Today's interview is with Amy Reid Sandoval, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her book, Socially Undocumented Identity and Immigration Justice, is just out from Oxford University Press. In socially undocumented, Amy Reed Zandeval reframes the question of immigration justice by focusing on the historical development and lived experience of socially undocumented identity.
Drawing on ethnography, phenomenological analysis, storytelling, and a non ideal theory approach, she tracks the development of racialized, class based, and gendered elements of socially undocumented identity. and the unjust constraints that target this identity. She looks at concrete steps for how to address socially undocumented oppression, not just at the level of immigration policy, but also through the work of non state actors and the socially undocumented themselves. Um, hello, Amy, and welcome to New Books in Philosophy. Hi, Sarah, thank you for having me. It's great to have you here. Um so let's start out by having you tell us a bit about yourself, um, your background as a philosopher, and how you came to write this book.
Sure, um so I was born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Uh I I guess I I wasn't really exposed to philosophy until I got to college. I was originally a vocal performance music education major, um, but I happened to take a philosophy class that was very inspiring to me and um an intro class. And so I was very uh yeah, inspired to continue learning more about philosophical questions and and methods. Um and I and I, though I was born and raised in Allentown, I've had the opportunity. Opportunity in my adult life to live in a number of different places. And so those experiences have inspired uh the particular philosophical questions that I'm most interested in and the arguments themselves. So, so one in relation to the book and how I ended up uh working on some of the arguments uh that I developed therein.
I lived for a period of time in my early twenties in Madrid, Spain. Um I I started out as a student there um and then I came back on a tourist visa. And I ended up overstaying my visa. And so there was a period of time when I was legally undocumented in Madrid, Spain, but I wasn't really oppressed as an undocumented person there because of my white skin privilege.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–11:22
2
What is Amy Reed‑Sandoval’s concept of “socially undocumented” identity?
11:22–17:24
3
How did Amy’s personal experience in Madrid shape her philosophical approach?
17:24–30:53
4
Why does the book rely on storytelling and ethnography for philosophical analysis?
30:53–37:16
5
How do race, gender, and class intersect in socially undocumented oppression?
37:16–58:06
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from New Books in Philosophy
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