I am a political scientist who studies why and how communities with little political power organize and negotiate with their governments. My work spans LGBTQ+ and trans rights, the political economy of informal work, and democracy in Latin America.
I am the author of Why Informal Workers Organize (Oxford University Press), winner of the 2023 Riker Prize for the best book in political economy. My current research examines the surprising expansion of trans and nonbinary rights around the world. I work with trans-led NGOs and street-vendor unions in Miami, La Paz, and São Paulo, using ethnographic, survey, statistical, and experimental methods. My research appears in journals including the British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Health Affairs, and The Lancet Global Health, and has been supported by grants from the NIH, NSF, and the American Political Science Association.
The Book
Why Informal Workers Organize
Contentious Politics, Enforcement, and the State · Oxford University Press
Why do officials so often help informal workers organize? Drawing on years of fieldwork in Bolivia and beyond, the book shows that organized workers are easier to govern, tax, and bargain with. Winner of the 2023 Riker Prize.
Read more →Recent
“Activists, Parties, and the Expansion of Trans Rights in Bolivia” published in Comparative Politics.
Invited talk: “Racialized Administrative Burdens and the Name Change Process in Florida.”
Awarded an NIH CFAR supplement as PI of the PASSPORT Study.
Why Informal Workers Organize wins the Riker Prize; LASA honorable mention.