THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
Biography:
Yanilda María González is an Assistant Professor at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. Her research explores the consequences of violence and inequality for state capacity, democratic citizenship, and the relationship between citizens and state institutions in Latin America.
González's nearly two years of immersive qualitative field research in Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia brought her to Chicago—and the Crown School —to study policing reform efforts in the city. González has always been interested in human rights issues. She has worked with a number of human rights organizations in Argentina and the US, including the New York Civil Liberties Union, where she worked with family members who were victims of police killings.
She holds a PhD in politics and social policy from Princeton University. Prior to coming to UChicago, González was a postdoctoral fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Project Title: From Victims to Resilient Citizens: The Policy Feedback Effects of State Violence
State violence is a prevalent yet understudied feature of many democracies, particularly in Latin America, where state security forces kill thousands each year. Yanilda González’s research explain show marginalized citizens engage the state to reduce risk and adversity generated by the state itself. Her current research project probes how state-induced trauma serves as a mode of state interaction with citizens that conveys information about their membership in the polity, determines the boundaries of the rights of citizenship in practice, holds material implications for everyday life, and shapes citizens’ subsequent political engagement and action.