Area of Interest:

Anthropology of the economy, development studies, feminist theory, gender studies, economic subjectivity, Brazil.

Research & Activities:

Entered the program in 2000.

Education:
BA Antropology, University of California, Berkeley, 1996;
MA Antropology, University of North Caorlina, Chapel Hill, 2003.

Research Interests: I am working on a project centered in a community in a semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil, the sertão, looking at the implementation of a large-scale hydro-electric dam and the subsequent organizing that took place in the community after the construction of the dam, particularly on the part of women. I am focusing on what could be called "practices of economic difference" or alternative economic practices and the creation livelihood strategies on the part of peasant farmers and women in the community. By focusing on livelihood strategies or the co-production of development the part of local actors I hope to demonstrate their agency and creativity in negotiating dominant capitalist models of development to suit local needs and particularly how gender relations are being reworked in the process. My theoretical focus is through the lenses of the anthropology of development and the politics of globalization, place and gender.