I am Associate Professor of Anthropology and an associate member of the School for International Studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. Before coming to Simon Fraser, I was a postdoctoral fellow in the Thompson Writing Program at Duke University. I received my PhD in anthropology from Brown University and am a former editor of the journal The Anthropology of Work Review.
My research explores relationships between labor, economy, and the human condition. My award-winning book, Reclaiming the Discarded: Life and Labor on Rio's Garbage Dump (Duke University Press, 2018), traces the life projects of thousands of self-employed workers who earn a living by collecting recyclables on a garbage dump in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I have also conducted research on Brazil's largest consumer debt crisis in its history through an ethnographic study of the lived experience of default. I am currently working on a new project at the intersection of existential anthropology and contemplative spirituality.
At Simon Fraser University, I teach graduate and undergraduate courses on contemporary ethnography, social theory, research methods, labor and capitalism, existential anthropology, and Latin American studies.
My research explores relationships between labor, economy, and the human condition. My award-winning book, Reclaiming the Discarded: Life and Labor on Rio's Garbage Dump (Duke University Press, 2018), traces the life projects of thousands of self-employed workers who earn a living by collecting recyclables on a garbage dump in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I have also conducted research on Brazil's largest consumer debt crisis in its history through an ethnographic study of the lived experience of default. I am currently working on a new project at the intersection of existential anthropology and contemplative spirituality.
At Simon Fraser University, I teach graduate and undergraduate courses on contemporary ethnography, social theory, research methods, labor and capitalism, existential anthropology, and Latin American studies.