My book project, "Keeping a Seat at the Table: Unions and Policymaking Rules in New Democracies", investigates whether and how labor unions have mobilized to remain included in policy formulation bodies in recently transitioned democracies. It argues that democratic transitions provide windows of opportunity for civil society organizations who desire participation in policymaking but fear future exclusion to push for new legal rules they can later activate to protect and institutionalize their positions inside the public administration. The book provides comparative historical analyses of the South African, Brazilian, South Korean, and Slovenian cases.

In Konstanz, I will begin the project "Curbing Labor Violations in Hard-to-Reach Places: Civil Society's Strategic Repertoires in Rural Brazil". Brazil, a major player in food value chains, is also a hotspot for labor violations from irregular contracting to slave-like employment. The country's secluded rural workplaces are an extreme case of enforcement difficulty for authorities, and we know their successes have depended on the cooperation of local unions and other civil society organizations. Yet, we understand little about these organizations, including the conditions they face, the strategies available to them, and why they behave in specific ways and not others. The research will draw on fieldwork to conceptualize and explain civil society’s strategic repertoires in such hard-to-reach places.