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. In particular, I examine questions related to: (1) rural livelihoods; (2) fair and alternative trade; and (3) multi-stakeholder participation. My research unpacks the relationship between structure and agency by connecting local experiences to regional and global forces, and it advances a postcolonial theory of social transformation by clarifying the power dynamics informing change in action. I am skilled in qualitative and participatory methods that open spaces of radical openness where local communities can voice their concerns, share their expertise, and collaborate with professionals. My scholarship draws from local knowledge to articulate interdisciplinary standards for development research and practice. As a socially engaged scholar, I bring together the discourse on sustainability, global justice, and social transformation.
In 2010, I worked with small-scale 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 issues facing producers in rural coloured (mixed race) areas, including challenges with Fairtrade and organic market access. 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.
I also have conducted extensive 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 competitive in a rapidly changing agricultural economy.
My current scholarship focuses on the ethics of development, with three article-length manuscripts in progress. The first of these connects the wide-ranging discourse on development ethics to propose a common set of principles for planning, conducting, and evaluating development research across disciplines. The second comprises a systematic review of participatory action research in sustainable development. The third manuscript elucidates the contributions of intersectional, postcolonial, and decolonial feminist theories to global development ethics.
In the near future, I will embark upon a comparative historical book project on the topic of 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 particular 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. In particular, I examine questions related to: (1) rural livelihoods; (2) fair and alternative trade; and (3) multi-stakeholder participation. My research unpacks the relationship between structure and agency by connecting local experiences to regional and global forces, and it advances a postcolonial theory of social transformation by clarifying the power dynamics informing change in action. I am skilled in qualitative and participatory methods that open spaces of radical openness where local communities can voice their concerns, share their expertise, and collaborate with professionals. My scholarship draws from local knowledge to articulate interdisciplinary standards for development research and practice. As a socially engaged scholar, I bring together the discourse on sustainability, global justice, and social transformation.
In 2010, I worked with small-scale 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 issues facing producers in rural coloured (mixed race) areas, including challenges with Fairtrade and organic market access. 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.
I also have conducted extensive 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 competitive in a rapidly changing agricultural economy.
My current scholarship focuses on the ethics of development, with three article-length manuscripts in progress. The first of these connects the wide-ranging discourse on development ethics to propose a common set of principles for planning, conducting, and evaluating development research across disciplines. The second comprises a systematic review of participatory action research in sustainable development. The third manuscript elucidates the contributions of intersectional, postcolonial, and decolonial feminist theories to global development ethics.
In the near future, I will embark upon a comparative historical book project on the topic of 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 particular 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
