On my last couple of trips to Mexico, one of my first orders of business has been to find a swimming pool. In New York I am spoiled by the availability of free outdoor pools during the summer, and almost free indoor pools for the rest of the year. In Mexico, the best I have… Continue reading Swimming in the ruins
Blog
After almost two years, an introduction
I started this site and this blog almost two years ago, while conducting preliminary research in Mexico City. The site started out with the briefest of intros, and a "coming soon" research section, and a short post about the importance of on-the-ground research (which was also an expression of how good it felt to finally… Continue reading After almost two years, an introduction
Poverty, inevitability, and synthetic clothing
When I arrived back in Mexico City in January, everyone was talking about the lines for gas. Recently-inaugurated president López Obrador shut down parts of the national oil and gas distribution network to combat oil theft. I enjoyed the memes doing the rounds, but didn't think too much more about gas. In the days after… Continue reading Poverty, inevitability, and synthetic clothing
A month of farfetching
During the winter break, while New York was shivering through a polar vortex, I slipped away to the City of Eternal Spring for a month of research. With Cuernavaca as much as one hundred degrees (Fahrenheit, calm down) warmer than New York, it was a rather good choice. I equipped myself with fiction and non-fiction… Continue reading A month of farfetching
Violence as a message / Violence plus a message
I study a phenomenon that, according to the prevailing paradigm in scholarship on violence, really shouldn't exist. The huge volume of work that seeks to identify logics underpinning seemingly random or inexplicably brutal acts of violence very often explain these excesses in terms of their communicative value. Perpetrating violence is a costly signal; perpetrating grotesquely… Continue reading Violence as a message / Violence plus a message
Reflections on teaching Politics of Central America
I considered myself pretty luck to have the chance to teach an entire course on Central America this semester. The course did not disappoint; every space on the roster filled, and twice a week I shared a classroom with a great group of students. Their questions and perspectives on the course material kept me on… Continue reading Reflections on teaching Politics of Central America
Wrapping up field work (for now)
The months of field work passed in a flash, and before I knew it I was back in the immigration line at JFK, crumpled documents in hand. After half a year in the endless spring of Mexico City, arriving back in New York during the swampiest month of the year was something of a shock.… Continue reading Wrapping up field work (for now)
The Conflict Research Society Conference, 2019
After my experience last year at the Conflict Research Society's annual conference in Oxford, I was eager to cross the pond again, and plug back into the vibrant CRS community this year. I sweated on my acceptance to the conference through the spring, worried that the conference conveners would decide that they were being entirely too… Continue reading The Conflict Research Society Conference, 2019
Puzzling over a massacre
"There is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre." - Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five For about three years now, I have been trying to find something intelligent to say about a massacre. I am not sure that I have made much progress, but I have just submitted my most recent attempt to a journal, so… Continue reading Puzzling over a massacre
Teaching Politics of Central America
At the start of the year, before I left New York to conduct field work, I bagged a rather excellent teaching assignment for the fall semester. A long-forgotten course listing, entitled 'Politics and Government of Central America,' was collecting cobwebs in the Hunter College catalogue. I would have the chance to dust it off -… Continue reading Teaching Politics of Central America
