Past Research Students

Research Topic:  Autodefensas in Latin America - ‘self-defence’ groups and the contestation of state-society relations and citizenship in Mexico
Lead supervisor:  Ainhoa Montoya
Contact: alexander.curry@postgrad.sas.ac.uk

Research Description: Alex's research focuses on ideas and practices of citizenship in Mexico, specifically on what the emergence and development of autodefensas (self-defence groups) reveal about concepts of citizenship, state-society relations, legal cultures, and sovereignty. His doctoral project involved long-term fieldwork in Michoacán, Mexico. He recently co-authored an article entitled ‘Violent Governance, Identity and the Production of Legitimacy: Autodefensas in Latin America’ which has been published in the Journal of International Relations and Development. Alex’s doctoral research has been funded by the London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP).

Research Topic:  Written culture in Spanish American colonies and history of the book.
Lead supervisor:  Linda Newson
Contact: jose.guevara@postgrad.sas.ac.uk

Research Description: My research focuses on the material dimension of the products of the written culture in Lima and Santafé de Bogotá during 1650-1750. The aim is to identify the practices and uses of the script by the different social groups participating on the production, circulation and consumption of the textual objects. This examination is carried out considering the written word as part of literate devices that involved the employment of the speech and the image as well.