Assistant Professor, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Arizona State University
Senior Sustainability Scholar, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University
Past-Chair, Section on Sociology of Development, American Sociological Association
Social Justice and Sustainable Development
Alternative Food Networks
Land, Knowledge, and Heritage
Decolonizing Theory and Practice
I am a development sociologist with more than a dozen peer-reviewed publications on issues pertaining to global justice and sustainable development. I have worked in several world regions and possess significant expertise in anti-racist, anti-colonial, and feminist perspectives. I am particularly interested in Black, Indigenous, and Global South development approaches that challenge conventional thought/praxis. I am skilled in the use of qualitative, mixed, and participatory action research (PAR) methods that open spaces for multi-paradigmatic knowledge building.
My work advances development theory and practice in two key ways. First, it decolonizes theory to improve understanding of development and its alternatives. By interrogating the power dynamics informing sustainability in action, I unpack structural, relational, and cognitive barriers and identify pathways for transformation. Second, my work informs social research methods through the publication of critical reflections and systematic reviews of practice. By clarifying standards and methods that support connection across difference, I strengthen ethics for interdisciplinary and intercultural engagement.
Below is a description and list of current and past research projects.
The Politics of Sustainability
My current book projects problematize the politics of sustainable development through the lens of social justice.
Started in 2017, this ongoing research project is focused on decolonizing the ethics of development and strengthening methods for engagement. Currently, I have produced three solo-authored articles:
Completed Research Projects
Livelihoods and Well-Being in the South African Cederberg
Knowledge and Capacity in South African Rooibos Tea
Fair Trade and Social Justice
Organic Agriculture and Market Development in Latvia
Senior Sustainability Scholar, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University
Past-Chair, Section on Sociology of Development, American Sociological Association
Social Justice and Sustainable Development
Alternative Food Networks
Land, Knowledge, and Heritage
Decolonizing Theory and Practice
I am a development sociologist with more than a dozen peer-reviewed publications on issues pertaining to global justice and sustainable development. I have worked in several world regions and possess significant expertise in anti-racist, anti-colonial, and feminist perspectives. I am particularly interested in Black, Indigenous, and Global South development approaches that challenge conventional thought/praxis. I am skilled in the use of qualitative, mixed, and participatory action research (PAR) methods that open spaces for multi-paradigmatic knowledge building.
My work advances development theory and practice in two key ways. First, it decolonizes theory to improve understanding of development and its alternatives. By interrogating the power dynamics informing sustainability in action, I unpack structural, relational, and cognitive barriers and identify pathways for transformation. Second, my work informs social research methods through the publication of critical reflections and systematic reviews of practice. By clarifying standards and methods that support connection across difference, I strengthen ethics for interdisciplinary and intercultural engagement.
Below is a description and list of current and past research projects.
The Politics of Sustainability
My current book projects problematize the politics of sustainable development through the lens of social justice.
- Decolonizing Trade is a comparative study of post-authoritarian efforts to decolonize agricultural production and trade. Situated in the far reaches of the Global North and South, post-Soviet Latvia and post-apartheid South Africa are a world apart. Yet these nations endured a similar history of colonial and authoritarian rule and concurrently transitioned to democracy at the end of the twentieth century. Not only were their struggles for liberation rooted in an Indigenous love of the land, but producers in both nations have used political reforms to revitalize ancestral foodways. Drawing from fieldwork with small-scale producers, this book contributes to food and development studies in two ways. Empirically, I join an analysis of political economy and ecocultural heritage to unpack the dynamics shaping alternative trade in two post-authoritarian societies. Theoretically, I connect world systems thinking with comparative Indigenous knowledge to articulate a decolonial theory of sustainable development that centers production and trade. Addressing the paradoxical impulses of modernity/tradition, structure/agency, and heritage/transition, I clarify what it means to live in connection with land and culture while remaining open to difference and resilient in the face of crisis. This book offers timely insight for a planet that is again confronting the winds of change, as societies around the world contend with agro-food systems made vulnerable by authoritarianism, laissez-faire capitalism, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Democratizing Energy is an edited volume on energy and democracy. As co-editor, I have organized a diverse body of scholars to examine questions pertaining to energy insecurities, risks, and transitions to sustainability. Their rich contributions range from theoretical coverage of energy imaginaries to empirical analyses of alternative energy formations that are occurring in societies around the world.
Started in 2017, this ongoing research project is focused on decolonizing the ethics of development and strengthening methods for engagement. Currently, I have produced three solo-authored articles:
- Published in Systemic Practice and Action Research, Sustainable Development and Participatory Action Research systematically interrogates the last decade of empirical scholarship to unpack research challenges and identify innovative practices that support interdisciplinary and intercultural collaboration.
- Forthcoming in Sociology of Development, Ethics for Development Research connects a wide ranging discourse to develop a common set of principles for planning, conducting, and evaluating research across disciplines.
- Currently under review, "Transnational Feminisms in Development" traces the lineages of three subaltern feminist traditions to deliver insight into the intersectional colonialities of oppression. Via a critically reflexive analysis of my engagement with the subaltern feminist knowledge imparted to me, I identify six pathways to transformation and encourage readers to reflect upon the feminist values undergirding their practice.
Completed Research Projects
Livelihoods and Well-Being in the South African Cederberg
Knowledge and Capacity in South African Rooibos Tea
Fair Trade and Social Justice
Organic Agriculture and Market Development in Latvia
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
