I am an associate professor in the Political Science Department at Hunter College, CUNY, the director of the LGBTQ Policy Center at Roosevelt House, and a member of the Public Policy and Human Rights Program faculty at Roosevelt House.
My research is situated in the fields of American politics, law and society, and political theory and bridges scholarship on social movements, interest groups and public policy, intersectionality, gender and sexuality, and immigration, migration, and labor politics. I focus on questions about how different types of organized groups engage in various forms of democratic politics, including conventional electoral politics, political protest, and litigation. My current research focuses on the problem of building alliances across and within rights-based minority movements in struggles to overcome inequality and oppression. I am in the process of conducting research on the struggle for LGBTQIA+ reproductive rights before and after the Dobbs decision in 2022.
My first book is Queer Alliances: How Power Shapes Political Movement Formation (2020, Stanford University Press). The book focuses on the problem of building alliances across and within political movements to aid in struggles to overcome inequality and oppression at the grassroots level. I examine the extent to which groups bridged divisions in the LGBTQ, labor, and immigrant rights movements through the development of coalitions that could aid in struggles for rights. The book draws from an original dataset that consists of participant observations and semi-structured, in-depth interviews with organization leaders, advocates, and politicians. It is the first socio-legal study of coalition-based legal rights advocacy by LGBTQ groups, immigrant groups, labor organizations, and groups that represent communities of color in state settings.
Research and Teaching Areas:
Law and Society/Public Law; American Politics; Political Theory; Multi-Methods Research; Critical Theory; Social Movements and Interest Groups; Race and Ethnicity, Gender, and Class (Intersectionality); Gender and Sexuality; Immigration and Labor Politics
Last Updated August 28, 2024
My research is situated in the fields of American politics, law and society, and political theory and bridges scholarship on social movements, interest groups and public policy, intersectionality, gender and sexuality, and immigration, migration, and labor politics. I focus on questions about how different types of organized groups engage in various forms of democratic politics, including conventional electoral politics, political protest, and litigation. My current research focuses on the problem of building alliances across and within rights-based minority movements in struggles to overcome inequality and oppression. I am in the process of conducting research on the struggle for LGBTQIA+ reproductive rights before and after the Dobbs decision in 2022.
My first book is Queer Alliances: How Power Shapes Political Movement Formation (2020, Stanford University Press). The book focuses on the problem of building alliances across and within political movements to aid in struggles to overcome inequality and oppression at the grassroots level. I examine the extent to which groups bridged divisions in the LGBTQ, labor, and immigrant rights movements through the development of coalitions that could aid in struggles for rights. The book draws from an original dataset that consists of participant observations and semi-structured, in-depth interviews with organization leaders, advocates, and politicians. It is the first socio-legal study of coalition-based legal rights advocacy by LGBTQ groups, immigrant groups, labor organizations, and groups that represent communities of color in state settings.
Research and Teaching Areas:
Law and Society/Public Law; American Politics; Political Theory; Multi-Methods Research; Critical Theory; Social Movements and Interest Groups; Race and Ethnicity, Gender, and Class (Intersectionality); Gender and Sexuality; Immigration and Labor Politics
Last Updated August 28, 2024
