María José ÁLVAREZ RIVADULLA

Bio :

María José is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the Universidad del Rosario, Colombia, where she also directs a MA program in Social Studies.  She is interested in urban sociology and in the study of inequalities, particularly in the interaction of socioeconomic and spatial types of inequality.  She pays attention to both marginality and privilege. She has also worked on social movements and on research methods, with special interest in mixed methods. Her dissertation is focused on poor people’s politics in the city. It analyzes the history of the informal city in Montevideo, Uruguay, from the middle of the twentieth century to our days, paying attention to the interaction of squatters and the state. She has also written about gated communities and residential segregation. She has conducted work on cable cars and slum upgrading in Colombian cities and is currently working on a new project on subjective inequality comparatively in Latin America. She has published in journals such as Environment and Planning A and Latin American Politics and Society.

Education :

• PhD Sociology, University of Pittsburgh (2009)
• Advanced certificate in Latin American public policy, Center for Latin American Studies, University of Pittsburgh (2004)
• MA in Sociology, University of Pittsburgh (2004)
• BA School of Social Sciences, Universidad de la República, Uruguay (2000)

Selected publications:

• 2014, Álvarez Rivadulla, María José. “Tolerancia a la desigualdad en América Latina: una exploración en Montevideo y Bogotá”. Ensambles 1, Argentina.
• 2014, Álvarez Rivadulla, María José y Diana Bocarejo. "Beautifying the Slum: Cable Car Fetishism in Cazucá, Colombia", International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 38 (6): 2025-2041.
• 2012, Álvarez-Rivadulla, María José.  “Clientelism or something else? Squatters’ politics in Montevideo. Latin American Politics and Society, 54 (1). (forthcoming)
• 2009, Álvarez-Rivadulla, María José. “Informalidades: efectos de la informalidad urbana sobre el empleo de los jóvenes” (Informalities: effects of urban informality on youth employment). Política y Gestión 11. Buenos Aires: Universidad Nacional de San Martín.
• 2007, Álvarez-Rivadulla, María José. “Golden Ghettos: Gated Communities and Class Residential Segregation in Montevideo, Uruguay,” Environment and Planning 39 (2): 47-63.
• 2007, Álvarez-Rivadulla, María José. “Asentamientos irregulares montevideanos: la desafiliación resistida” (Squatter settlements in Montevideo: Resisting social exclusión). Cadernos Metròpole 18. Rio de Janeiro: Universidad Federal de Rio de Janeiro.