Deborah Yashar

Biography

Deborah J. Yashar is Professor of Politics and International Affairs and Director of Princeton’s Program in Latin American Studies (PLAS). Her research focuses on the intersection of democracy and citizenship – with publications on the origins and endurance of political regimes; the relationship between citizenship regimes, local autonomy, and ethnic politics; collective action and contentious politics; interest representation and party systems; and globalization. She is the author of two books: Demanding Democracy: Reform and Reaction in Costa Rica and Guatemala (Stanford University Press, 1997) and Contesting Citizenship in Latin America: The Rise of Indigenous Movements and the Postliberal Challenge (Cambridge University Press, 2005) – which received the 2006 Best Book Prize, awarded by the New England Council on Latin American Studies (NECLAS) and the 2006 Mattei Dogan Honorable Mention, awarded by the Society for Comparative Research. Yashar’s current research addresses the contemporary rise in violent crime and the uneven record of Latin America’s third wave democracies to provide public security and uphold the rule of law; the book project is tentatively entitled Violence, Citizenship, and Public Security in Post-Authoritarian Latin America. She received her doctorate in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.

For more information, visit http://www.princeton.edu/~dyashar.

Areas

• Comparative Politics

• Latin America

• Democracy and Authoritarianism

• Citizenship

• Ethnic Politics

• Social Movements

• Violence