Alejandro Armas Díaz

Alejandro Armas Díaz is a Research Fellow in the Department of Geography and History at the University of La Laguna, where he has held a postdoctoral position since November 2023. Previously, he spent nearly seven years as a researcher at Universität Leipzig in Germany. He is an active member of the research group "City, Politics and Society" since 2007 and collaborates with the "Geography and Gender" research group at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. His academic work spans multiple institutions across Spain, Germany, and Austria, reflecting his international scholarly engagement.

Armas Díaz earned his doctorate from the University of La Laguna with his thesis "Urban Restructuring and Image Production: Public Spaces in Santa Cruz de Tenerife" (2016), supervised by Dr. Luz Marina García Herrera. His research primarily focuses on critical urban geography, examining the production of urban space, city governance policies, and their effects on public spaces and housing. He has expanded his work to explore non-exclusively urban spaces, particularly focusing on struggles for the right to the island and natural resources in insular contexts.

His scholarly contributions reveal consistent engagement with three interconnected research strands: (i) displacement and housing struggles, (ii) neoliberal governance of nature and its contestations, and (iii) production of space and struggles in urban public spaces. His work demonstrates particular expertise in island contexts, especially the Canary Islands, where he analyzes the commodification of land and natural resources in relation to tourism and urbanization. His geographic scope extends to Southern Europe, Central Europe, and Latin America, providing comparative perspectives on urban processes.

Armas Díaz has conducted research stays and taught at numerous institutions including Universitat de les Illes Balears, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Christian-Albrecht-Universität zu Kiel, Universität Leipzig, Technische Universität Dresden, Universität Bayreuth, and Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg. His methodological approach combines critical social theory with empirical fieldwork, often employing interviews, spatial analysis, and document review to examine urban transformations and resistance movements.