Book project
Do criminal groups make or break citizens?: How criminal organization presence affects citizen-state interactions
Citizens across the globe live in areas where criminal groups are present. The presence of these criminal organizations affects their daily lives in myriad ways. Citizens play an active role in such environments, choosing between various actions in the face of organized criminal presence: self-defense groups, protests, security round tables, and street masses are only some of the reactions we observe.
My project asks why, when faced with the same phenomenon of criminal organization presence, do citizens in some places pursue solutions through the state while in other places they pursue private solutions, going around the state? And what are the downstream effects on citizen-state interactions more broadly?
To answer these questions, I utilize a mixed-methods approach in municipalities across Mexico.
Publications
2023. “Collective action infrastructure: The downstream effects of urban neighborhood organizing.” Comparative Political Studies (with Alyssa Huberts)
Working
papers
“Making or breaking citizens? Criminal organizations and state-society relations” (revise & resubmit, World Politics)
“Collective victimization: Everyday life in contexts of persistent insecurity”
“Using local expert surveys: An application to criminal governance in Mexico”
In progress
“Examining trust in government after the disappearance of the Ayotzinapa students”
“United against crime: Citizen organizing efforts in contexts of low violence”