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 theories of development and social change 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. By clarifying standards and methods that support connection across difference, I establish ethics for interdisciplinary and intercultural engagement.
Below is a description and list of research projects.
Decolonizing Sustainability
My current book projects problematize the politics of sustainable development through the lens of social justice.
Development Ethics and Research Methods
This research project is focused on decolonizing the ethics of development and strengthening methods for engagement. Currently, I have produced four solo-authored articles:
Previous 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 theories of development and social change 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. By clarifying standards and methods that support connection across difference, I establish ethics for interdisciplinary and intercultural engagement.
Below is a description and list of research projects.
Decolonizing Sustainability
My current book projects problematize the politics of sustainable development through the lens of social justice.
- Decolonizing Sustainable Development is a solo-authored comparative historical study of post-authoritarian transitions to sustainability in Latvia and South Africa. This book unpacks the oppressive legacies and insurgent knowledges informing development in societies situated at two frontiers of the modern-colonial world system. More specifically, it examines efforts to develop alternative food systems and sustainability agendas at a time of democratization and free-market triumphalism. Drawing from qualitative and participatory fieldwork with local farming communities, the book offers situated insight into cultural negotiations with marginalization and agency; tradition and modernity; heritage and change. It joins political economy analysis with the Indigenous knowledges of formerly colonized peoples to develop a decolonial theory and practice of sustainable development that challenges business-as-usual.
- 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.
Development Ethics and Research Methods
This research project is focused on decolonizing the ethics of development and strengthening methods for engagement. Currently, I have produced four solo-authored articles:
- Published in Action Research in 2019, "Knowledge in Action: Negotiating Power in Development" discusses a multi-paradigmatic participatory action research (PAR) framework that I developed with a research team of community-based farmer leaders. Bringing theories of power into dialogue with local political knowledge, we deconstructed the politics of development and generated a multi-paradigmatic praxis of change.
- Published in Systemic Practice and Action Research in 2020, "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.
Previous 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
