Campus Directory

Pronouns she, her, her, hers, herself

Division Social Sciences Division

Department/ College/ Unit Politics Department

Title Continuing Lecturer

Affiliation Faculty

Other UCSC Campus Affiliation Legal Studies

Faculty Type Regular Faculty

Areas of Expertise Political Economy of Development
Comparative Politics
Critical Theory
Marxism
International and Global Affairs

Web Site

Primary Office Location Merrill College Faculty Office Annex
155

Office Hours for Students/ Office Hours Tues/Thurs, 5-6/:30pm

Mail Stop Merrill/Crown Faculty Services

Biography, Education and Training

Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz
Committee: Kent Eaton, Daniel Wirls, Ronnie Lipschutz, and Jan Knippers-Black

Master of Arts, International Policy Studies, Middlebury Institute of International Studies
Emphasis: International Trade, Conflict Resolution and Negotiations

Bachelor of Arts, French and Bachelor of Science, Business Administration, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC

Certificate of European Studies, Universite' de Caen, Caen, France

Certificate of French language studies, Universite' d'Aix-Marseille III, Aix-en-Provence, France 

Summary of Expertise

My research interests are rooted in critical perspectives of global capitalism. Applying a neo-Gramscian lens, my dissertation research investigated the factors that led to the inclusion of the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS) in so-called free trade agreements - and the consequences generated by it.  More recently, my focus has evolved to explore the evolving theory and practice of property rights. In particular, I'm interested in how property rights serve as a locus of class struggle, impacting access to everything from housing to health care and education. 

I have a broad range of teaching experience, including Global Politics, International Law, Human Rights, Comparative Politics, Property Rights Theory & Practice, Global Trade, the Politics of Development, and (Critical) Security Studies. 

Research Interests

Critical Political Economy, Social Forces, and International Relations

Teaching Interests

Global Politics, International Relations, Political Economy, Comparative Politics, Critical International Security, Global Trade, International Law

Selected Publications

"Transnational Capital and the Transformation of the State: Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)," Critical Sociology (Print version, forthcoming). Critical Sociology 0896920516675205, first published on November 11, 2016 as doi:10.1177/0896920516675205

"Expanding Property Rights under Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS): Class Struggle in the Era of Transnational Capital," Review of International Political Economy, first published on February 6, 2018: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/5XDpR7BAb8Pk2HNaSpXV/full 

 “Investor-State Dispute Mechanisms and Imperialism” (2019) in Immanuel Ness and Zak Cope (Eds.) Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism, 2nd addition. London: Palgrave MacMillan

“The International Political Economy of Transnational Class and Contemporary Capitalism” (2019) in Ernesto Vivares (Ed.) The Routledge Handbook of International Political Economy. New York: Routledge

“Transnational Capital and the Crisis of Neoliberalism” in Terrence McDonough, David M. Kotz, and Cian McMahon (Eds.) Elgar Handbook on Social Structures of Accumulation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing

"Selling out the city: Property rights as a locus of class struggle in post-austerity Lisbon" in Pascal Glanz, Johannes Jäger, Agnes Sieben, Elisabeth Springler, Stefanie Wöhl (Eds). Resisting the Financialization of Housing: Global Perspectives. Cheltenham: Edward Elger Publishing

Courses Comparative Law
International Law
Global Organization
Human Rights
Politics of International Trade
Politics of Development
Security, Conflict, Violence, and War
International Security
Global Politics
Senior Seminar: Property Rights