My life experiences and sociological training shaped my mission as a scholar and as a mentor at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and the University of California, Irvine (UCI). At UCSB and UCI, I research the power and politics of marginalized people. In particular, I focus my research on social mobilization, economic and political development, and the state. My sociological training forged my theoretical and methodological approaches to understand how economic and social globalization affects the precarious relationship between marginalized groups and governments in developing countries. Specifically, I examine the intersection between democratic reform (i.e., electoral reform, human rights legislation, constitutionalism)
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The data I collected came from sources such as the World Bank Development Indicators, the Integrated Network for Societal Conflict Research Polity IV, and the Quality of Government (QOG) dataset. Using this pooled data, my current research project builds off literature analyzing the significant effects on electoral reform, civil rights legislation, and reducing the state’s use of violent repression through the power of social mobilization and protest. However, existing literature often overlooks the importance of macro- and meso-level political and economic factors such as presence of foreign embassies, IMF debt, reduction of public services, and export-led growth through privatization of industries. Previous studies found correlations between neoliberal reforms with increased levels of protests. My research extends this argument and proposes that the presence of foreign embassies, increased public presence in the economy, low IMF debt, and increased levels of protests reduces state …show more content…
My experience with multiple qualitative and quantitative research methods in examining the relationship between social mobilization and democratic development prepared me for an intensive project on this process across multiple countries. My focus shifted to studying the social mobilization, political development, and political conflict at a macro level. My work informs political activists of marginalized on addressing deficiencies in their country’s nascent
The data I collected came from sources such as the World Bank Development Indicators, the Integrated Network for Societal Conflict Research Polity IV, and the Quality of Government (QOG) dataset. Using this pooled data, my current research project builds off literature analyzing the significant effects on electoral reform, civil rights legislation, and reducing the state’s use of violent repression through the power of social mobilization and protest. However, existing literature often overlooks the importance of macro- and meso-level political and economic factors such as presence of foreign embassies, IMF debt, reduction of public services, and export-led growth through privatization of industries. Previous studies found correlations between neoliberal reforms with increased levels of protests. My research extends this argument and proposes that the presence of foreign embassies, increased public presence in the economy, low IMF debt, and increased levels of protests reduces state …show more content…
My experience with multiple qualitative and quantitative research methods in examining the relationship between social mobilization and democratic development prepared me for an intensive project on this process across multiple countries. My focus shifted to studying the social mobilization, political development, and political conflict at a macro level. My work informs political activists of marginalized on addressing deficiencies in their country’s nascent