Specific Research Endeavors
My research broadly focuses on how international migration and changes in the global political economy affect local socio-economic dynamics in the Latin America and the United States. I use case studies of contemporary issues to illustrate how larger global processes such as changing international geopolitics, the decline of international foreign aid, and the increase in individual migrant remittances impact specific social groups such as racial minorities and women. One of my ongoing areas of interest lies in examining livelihood strategies at the household level in Havana, Cuba, as the increase in remittances and informal economic activity has impacted differentially previously high levels of socio-economic equality. I also studied the constraints and opportunities faced by returned Guatemalan refugee women as they sought to continue the empowering political activity they had begun in Mexican refugee camps.
My current research focus is on Latino migration in the United States. I am looking at systems of labor recruitment and subcontracting of Latino immigrants in post-Katrina New Orleans and how they differ based on legal status, gender, and family networks.
