Box 1916

Maxcy Hall

112 George Street

Providence, RI 02912

Telephone: (401) 863-2367

Sociology@brown.edu

 

M.A. in Sociology, Brown University
M.A. in Political Science, York University

Contact Information:
Brown University
Department of Sociology
Box 1916
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: (401) 215-3255
Fax: (401) 863-3213
Jennifer_Costanza@brown.edu

Year of Entry: 2005

Previous Degrees:
M.A. in Sociology, Brown University (2007)
M.A. in Political Science, York University (Canada) (2004)
B.A. in Economics and Political Science, University of Rhode Island (2001)

Areas of Interest:
Political Sociology; Social Movements; Race, Ethnicity, and Indigenous Peoples; Development; Latin America and Caribbean

My theoretical interests center on the general question of the role that civil society and especially social movements can play in deepening democracy in developing countries. With this very broad question in mind, and with fellowship support from the Brown University Center for Latin American Studies and Watson Institute Graduate Program in Development, I spent the past two summers researching the indigenous rights movement in Guatemala, where I developed a strong interest in the ethnicity- and class-based struggles in which the movement has been engaged.  I explored these issues, via the theoretical backdrop of ‘identity versus class’ in my sociology MA thesis, “Competing Discourses: Contention and Convergence within the Guatemalan Indigenous Movement”. The thesis analyzed the different ways that groups within Guatemala’s indigenous movement have represented or “framed” their collective identity in class and ethnic terms.

I am in the early stages of writing my dissertation proposal. I plan to examine the politics of recognition (identity/culture) and redistribution (class/material) in Guatemala and Bolivia. Similar in terms of degree of democratic consolidation and presence of national indigenous movements, only Bolivia has moved beyond the politics of recognition to the politics of redistribution. Employing a state-civil society theoretical framework, this qualitative dissertation will focus on the role of civil society and social movements in transforming claims for recognition and redistribution into law. (And—hopefully implementing them).

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