I joined Aberdeen University as a Lecturer in Spanish and Latin American Studies in 2002, after completing a BA in History and a Masters in Social Anthropology at Oxford University, a PhD in Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, and having taught Anthropology at the University of St Andrews.
I founded in 2009 and direct the inter-disciplinary Centre for Citizenship, Civil Society and Rule of Law (CISRUL), which focuses on the study of political concepts in the world. In 2018 I secured a Marie Curie grant Political Concepts in the World to fund 12 PhD fellowships with related training over 5 years.
I have been doing research in Mex…
I joined Aberdeen University as a Lecturer in Spanish and Latin American Studies in 2002, after completing a BA in History and a Masters in Social Anthropology at Oxford University, a PhD in Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, and having taught Anthropology at the University of St Andrews.
I founded in 2009 and direct the inter-disciplinary Centre for Citizenship, Civil Society and Rule of Law (CISRUL), which focuses on the study of political concepts in the world. In 2018 I secured a Marie Curie grant Political Concepts in the World to fund 12 PhD fellowships with related training over 5 years.
I have been doing research in Mexico since 1992, and I have also done research since 2008 in the East Bay Area of northern California. My research has focused mainly on aspects of citizenship and civil society.
In 2016-19, I led a large RCUK-Newton team project on Societal Responses to Crime and Violence in Mexico (2016-19), and currently I lead a SFC-GCRF team project on Enhancing Collaboration in the Face of Crime and Violence. I am also mentor of a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship (2019-22), held by Hanifi Baris, and a Newton International Fellowship (2021-23) held by Denisse Román.
In 2019, I was Radboud Excellence Initiative Visiting Professor in Anthropology and Development Studies at Radboud University in the Netherlands.
I have published Knowing History in Mexico: An Ethnography of Citizenship (U New Mexico, 2012), and edited the volumes Religion as a Category of Governance and Sovereignty (Brill, 2015), Breaching the Civil Order: Radicalism and the Civil Sphere (CUP, 2020), Citizens Against Crime and Violence: Societal Responses in Mexico (Rutgers, 2022), and Engaging Authority: Citizenship and Political Community (Rowman & Littlefield International, 2022).