I explore a broad set of topics related to the theory and praxis of social change. Although I primarily focus on how these issues play out in Indigenous communities, I am committed to exploring the ways in which lessons learned in Native communities may apply in a variety of social contexts.
My theoretical foundations include…
My research methodologies include…
Currently, I am working with the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance to tell the story of the effort to build Indigenous food sovereignty across the U.S. Focusing on ten core themes, we will be developing a set of documentary films and action guides for use by…
For more information: NAFSA Storytelliing Project
“Thereby We Shall Live”: Tohono O’odham Food Sovereignty and the Confluence of Quantum Leadership, Cultural Vitality, Public Health, and Economic Hybridity is based upon my award-winning work to create food sovereignty on the Tohono O’odham Nation in Southern Arizona over the last 20 years. Utilizing participatory action research (PAR) and Indigenous research methodologies, my dissertation examines the theory, practice, impacts and implications of Native food sovereignty efforts.
At a larger level, my work reconnects the academic discourse on food sovereignty to praxis, rather than the purely theoretical discourse of recent academic debates. Because engaged scholarship methodologies such as PAR share the values and goals of the food sovereignty project – including localization, democratization, emancipatory praxis, and destruction of the subject/object relationship in social discourse – they must stand at the center of the intellectual effort to understand food sovereignty. My work with the Tohono O’odham community provides a textured model of how PAR can be utilized to understand food sovereignty praxis globally.