At the broadest level, my research asks how states expand and legitimize regimes of security and policing, especially in the margins. Specifically, my work has focused on narrative experiences of Peru’s embrace of neoliberal development paradigms, which have attenuated—and at times, directly combatted—Indigenous political movements and non-monetary economy. I also write about resource extraction and alternative popular imaginings of corruption and state power as circulated in local communities and media.

I study ethnography as both method and genre, or in other words, the premier means of innovation within social theory and as a potentially radical form of expression. I take cues from my strong interest in Marxist literary theory, asking how the analysis of text can inform our criticism of the narratives that construct social life.

I currently work as an adjunct instructor of anthropology at Front Range Community College in Denver, Colorado.

I’m passionate about visual storytelling, and occasionally produce short photo stories.

Write to me here.