Profile
Assistant Professor, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Arizona State University
Senior Sustainability Scholar, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University
Chair, Section on Sociology of Development, American Sociological Association
Globalization and development
Social inequality and social justice
Fair trade and sustainable agriculture
Decolonizing research and practice
I am a development scholar with expertise in sustainable food systems and knowledge democratization. My research examines questions related to: (1) rural livelihoods; (2) fair and alternative trade; and (3) multi-stakeholder participation. I advance a postcolonial theory of social transformation by unpacking the relationship between structure and agency and by clarifying the power dynamics informing change in action. As an engaged scholar, I am skilled in qualitative and participatory methods that generate spaces of radical openness where communities can collaborate with professionals to improve research and practice. My scholarship unites the multifaceted discourse on sustainability, global justice, and social transformation.
In 2010, I worked with rooibos tea farmers in post-apartheid South Africa to co-develop a participatory research, training, and networking initiative. As part of my inquiry, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork with a team of community-based farmer leaders, generating in-depth understanding of the production and market issues facing producers in rural coloured (mixed race) areas. Our work resulted in a ‘participatory commodity networking’ approach to Fairtrade research and producer support. It also established a multi-paradigmatic foundation for sociopolitical analysis.
Previously, I conducted fieldwork in post-Soviet Latvia. Having first worked in the country as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I later returned under a Fulbright grant to examine the impacts of European integration on Latvia's organic farming movement. My research found significant growth in the number of farms undergoing organic conversion, an influx of food imports that further glutted national organic markets, and a strategic shift in movement identity from organic farming to local food as small-scale farmers struggled to remain economically competitive.
My current scholarship focuses on the ethics of development, with three studies at varying stages of completion. Forthcoming in Sociology of Development, Ethics for Development Research reconnects a wide ranging discourse to develop a common set of principles for planning, conducting, and evaluating research across disciplines. Next, I have completed a systematic review of participatory action research in sustainable development studies, with an article-length manuscript currently under review. I also am working on a theoretical manuscript that identifies the contributions of intersectional, postcolonial, and decolonial feminism to development ethics.
In the near future, I will embark upon a comparative historical book project on sociopolitical sustainability. Engaging the cases of post-Soviet Latvia and post-Apartheid South Africa, "Transformative Societies" will query the role of cultural worldviews in generating democratic social change, with focus on the indigenous value systems informing anti-authoritarian resistance movements, national transitions to democracy, and post-authoritarian sustainable development agendas.
Assistant Professor, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Arizona State University
Senior Sustainability Scholar, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University
Chair, Section on Sociology of Development, American Sociological Association
Globalization and development
Social inequality and social justice
Fair trade and sustainable agriculture
Decolonizing research and practice
I am a development scholar with expertise in sustainable food systems and knowledge democratization. My research examines questions related to: (1) rural livelihoods; (2) fair and alternative trade; and (3) multi-stakeholder participation. I advance a postcolonial theory of social transformation by unpacking the relationship between structure and agency and by clarifying the power dynamics informing change in action. As an engaged scholar, I am skilled in qualitative and participatory methods that generate spaces of radical openness where communities can collaborate with professionals to improve research and practice. My scholarship unites the multifaceted discourse on sustainability, global justice, and social transformation.
In 2010, I worked with rooibos tea farmers in post-apartheid South Africa to co-develop a participatory research, training, and networking initiative. As part of my inquiry, I conducted ethnographic fieldwork with a team of community-based farmer leaders, generating in-depth understanding of the production and market issues facing producers in rural coloured (mixed race) areas. Our work resulted in a ‘participatory commodity networking’ approach to Fairtrade research and producer support. It also established a multi-paradigmatic foundation for sociopolitical analysis.
Previously, I conducted fieldwork in post-Soviet Latvia. Having first worked in the country as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I later returned under a Fulbright grant to examine the impacts of European integration on Latvia's organic farming movement. My research found significant growth in the number of farms undergoing organic conversion, an influx of food imports that further glutted national organic markets, and a strategic shift in movement identity from organic farming to local food as small-scale farmers struggled to remain economically competitive.
My current scholarship focuses on the ethics of development, with three studies at varying stages of completion. Forthcoming in Sociology of Development, Ethics for Development Research reconnects a wide ranging discourse to develop a common set of principles for planning, conducting, and evaluating research across disciplines. Next, I have completed a systematic review of participatory action research in sustainable development studies, with an article-length manuscript currently under review. I also am working on a theoretical manuscript that identifies the contributions of intersectional, postcolonial, and decolonial feminism to development ethics.
In the near future, I will embark upon a comparative historical book project on sociopolitical sustainability. Engaging the cases of post-Soviet Latvia and post-Apartheid South Africa, "Transformative Societies" will query the role of cultural worldviews in generating democratic social change, with focus on the indigenous value systems informing anti-authoritarian resistance movements, national transitions to democracy, and post-authoritarian sustainable development agendas.
Education
PhD, Sociology, Colorado State University
MA, International Development and Social Change, Clark University
BA, Anthropology and French, University of Utah
Languages
English, native
French, excellent
Latvian, very good speaking ability
Afrikaans, good speaking ability
Spanish, elementary communication skills
PhD, Sociology, Colorado State University
MA, International Development and Social Change, Clark University
BA, Anthropology and French, University of Utah
Languages
English, native
French, excellent
Latvian, very good speaking ability
Afrikaans, good speaking ability
Spanish, elementary communication skills
