VICTOR ATTILA ALBERT
Assistant Professor
Department of Public Policy
National Research University
Higher School of Economics, Moscow
[email protected]
[email protected]
EDUCATION
PhD
Anthropology, La Trobe University (2013)
Dissertation: The Promise of Participation, the Practice of Power: an ethnographic
study of participatory institutions in Santo André, São Paulo.
Visiting student at the State University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
BA (First Class Honours), Development Studies, La Trobe University
BA Development Studies and French, La Trobe University
AREAS OF INTEREST
Public policy, social movements and governance; Theories of power, social mobility
and the state; Qualitative approaches to participatory democracy, environmental
justice, social class and urban planning.
ACADEMIC BOOKS
2016 The Limits to Citizen Power: participatory democracy and the entanglements
of the state. Pluto Press, London.
PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS
2017 ‘Direct Democracy or Ritualized Supplication?: participatory budgeting
assemblies in Santo André, São Paulo’, in Andrés Dapuez and FlorenciaTola
(eds.), The Art of Asking: anthropological studies of supplications and
poverties, Villa María: Editorial Universitaria de Villa María.
2016 ‘Participatory Master Planning: state-making, citizen participation and power
in Santo André, São Paulo’, Latin American Perspectives, Online First. In
Print: 2017, 44(2): 149-167.
2010 ‘Participatory Opportunity and Collective Action: a critical reflection on Brazil’s
recent experiments in democracy’, Journal of Iberian and Latin American
Research,16(2): 133-149.
Article won the Steve Niblo Memorial Prize for the best article published in the
journal over a two-year period.
Under Review
with Maria Davidenko ‘Social Struggles in Times of Crisis: the justification
work of Brazil’s Homeless Workers’ Movement’, under review at the European
Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology.
In Progress
‘Rabble, Battlers, or…?:Jessé Souza on Brazil’s ‘New Middle Class’.
‘Fields of Tension: evictions and the making of urban citizenship in Brazil’.
with Tania Lewis ‘Necessities of Environmental Waste, Problems of
Ecological Inequity: a sensory ethnography of polluted communities’.
‘Participatory Governance and Co-optation: reconceptualising social
movement agency in institutions of collaborative governance’
‘Brazil’s My House My Life Policy: qualifying the depoliticisation thesis’
Book Reviews
2006 Robert M. Levine, ‘The History of Brazil’, Journal of Iberian and Latin
American Studies,12(1): 104-105.
2016 Barbara Weinstein, ‘The Color of Modernity: São Paulo and the Making of
Race and Nation in Brazil’, Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research,
22(2): 206-208.
Other Reports and Non-Peer Reviewed Papers
2014 with Tania Lewis and Shae Hunter, ‘Environmental Equity: building policy and
practice for the Environmental Protection Agency’, Prepared for the
Environmental Protection Agency – Victoria, Australia.
2011 ‘Rationalisation and Citizen Participation: a Weberian (inspired) analysis of
participatory institutions in Santo André, São Paulo’, International Political
Science Association and the European Consortium for Political Research
Joint Conference, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, (Accessible here:
http://paperroom.ipsa.org/papers/paper_26289.pdf)
SCHOLARSHIPS, GRANTS AND PRIZES
São Paulo Research Foundation (Fundação de Amparo á Pesquisa de São Paulo),
Post-doctoral Research Fellowship - $BR106,000
National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (Conselho Nacional
de DesenvolvimentoCientífico e Tecnológico, CNPq– Brazil),Visiting Assistant
Professor - $BR14,100
RMIT University – International Research Nodes Travel Support - $7900
Co-applicant for Environmental Protection Agency (Victoria) Project
‘Environmental Equity: Building Policy and Practice for the EPA’ - $270,000
CI: Dr Tania Lewis.
Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research
Steve Niblo Memorial Prize for the best article published in the journal over a
two year period (2010-2011) - $400
La Trobe University Postgraduate Scholarship (with travel grant) - $62,500
La Trobe University PhD Writing Up Scholarship - $5600
LANGUAGE ABILITIES



English (Fluent, Native)
Portuguese (Fluent, Near-native)
French (Intermediate)
PRESENTATIONS
2016 'Social Struggles in Times of Crisis: the justificatory work of Brazil's Homeless
Workers' Movement', The Politics of Engagements, Conference for a Special
Issue of the European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology, University of
Helsinki, Finland, September 2.
'Social Movement Activity amid the Crisis', Invited Lecturer, Cidades
Liminares, Federal University of São Carlos - São Carlos, Brazil, August 10.
'Participation and the Ritualisations of Power', Invited Lecturer, Cidades
Liminares, Federal University of São Carlos - São Carlos, Brazil, April 8.
'Citizenship in Critical Situations: the resettlement of Vila Chocolatão in Porto
Alegre, Brazil', 2nd Annual Symposium of the Centre of Metropolitan Studies,
Centre of Brazilian Analysis and Planning, São Paulo, Brazil, March 8.
2015 Discussant, ‘Educating the World’ Film Screening, Federal University of
Uberlandia - Uberlandia, Brazil, March 2.
2014 ‘Lives and Livelihoods after a Model Resettlement Project: Vila Chocolatão
Three Years On’, Association of Iberian and Latin American Studies of
Australasia, University of Sydney, Australia, July 3.
‘Ritual Politics, Power and the Social Forms of Participation: an ethnographic
analysis of participatory budgeting assemblies in Santo André, Brazil’, XXXII
International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Palmer
House Hilton, Chicago, May 22.
Invited Lecturer, ‘As Ritualizações de Poder e Interação em Espaços
Participativos’, State University of Paraná – Ponta Grossa, Brazil, May 5.
2012 Invited Speaker, ‘Democratisation and the Tools of Progressive Urban
Governance’, Brazil Focus, UN-Global Compact Cities Programme, RMIT
University, Melbourne, October 11.
‘Analysing Public Spheres: a comparison of two participatory institutions’,
Institute of Latin American Studies: Seminar Series, La Trobe University,
Melbourne, Australia, October 5.
2011 ‘Rationalisation and Citizen Participation: a Weberian (inspired) analysis of
participatory institutions in Santo André, São Paulo’, International Political
Science Association and the European Consortium for Political Research
Joint Conference, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, February 18.
2010 ‘Towards an Ethnography of Citizen Participation: Exploring the case of Santo
André, São Paulo’, Independence! Two Centuries of Struggle: Association of
Iberian and Latin American Studies of Australasia Conference, Australian
National University, Canberra, Australia, July 8.
2009 ‘Governmental Authority and the Making of Citizens’ Participation:
ethnographic reflections from a case study of Santo André, São Paulo.’,
Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Sheraton
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 5.
‘Theorising Power in Local Governance: Ethnographic Notes from a Brazilian
Municipality’, Institute of Latin American Studies: Seminar Series, La Trobe
University, Melbourne, Australia, June 5.
2008 ‘Citizen Participation in Santo André: A power analysis’, The Australian
Sociological Association 2008: Re-imagining Sociology, Melbourne, Australia,
December 3-5.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Reform and Regulation
Designed and delivered Master’s level subject on regulation theory and
practice, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia, Semester 2, 2016
Freedom of Peaceful Assembly
Co-designed and delivered Master’s level subject on freedom of assembly,
Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia, Semester 2, 2016
Qualitative Research Methods
Co-taught Master’s level subject, Higher School of Economics, Moscow,
Russia, Semester 2, 2016
Political and Social Theory
Subject Coordinator, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, Semester 1,
2015
Responsible for all teaching and coordination duties for Masters subject,
which include an online cohort of students.
Power, the State and Participation
Visiting Assistant Professor, Federal University of Uberlandia, Brazil, JanuaryFebruary, 2015
Developed, coordinated and delivered in Portuguese a short course (30
teaching hours) for Masters Students in the Postgraduate Department of
Education.
The Anthropology of Policy in Development
Instructor and Guest Lecturer, University of Melbourne, Semester 2, 2012
The mean score for the teaching in the subject was 4.2/5.
Masters of International Development
Occasional Lecturer, La Trobe University, Semester 2, 2012
Our Global Village: Introduction to Anthropology
Instructor, La Trobe University, Semester 2, 2009
Student satisfaction rating: 6/7
Development, Globalisation and Culture
Instructor, La Trobe University, Semester 1, 2009
Student satisfaction rating not recorded by subject coordinator.
Our Global Village: Introduction to Anthropology
Instructor, La Trobe University, Semester 2, 2008
Student satisfaction rating: 5.8/7
PEDAGOGICAL TRAINING
La Trobe University, Marking and Tutor Training, 2008, 2009.
University of Melbourne, Assessment, Facilitation and Small Group Teaching
Training, 2012.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
2015-6Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Metropolitan Studies, University of
São Paulo.
Governance Regimes in São Paulo
A qualitative study of state departments and marginal communities has been
recently commenced at the University of São Paulo.It examines governance
as it is negotiated within and among different state departments (including
health and education) and in the periphery of the city. It involves in-depth
research of different sets of actors, namely the political appointees that design
policy, the public functionaries that carry it out on the ground, and the complex
webs of community actors that often have their own structures of governance.
2013-4Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, RMIT University, Australia.
Nova Chocolatão Three Years On
Research Fellow on a longitudinal study, sponsored by the UN Global
Compact Cities Programme, of a shanty town resettlement and social
inclusion project in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The study uses ethnographic and
qualitative methods to examine how the lives of shanty town inhabitants have
been affected by moving to a formal housing complex. The project is a
collaboration between the Local Government of Porto Alegre, RMIT University
and the UN Compact Cities Programme.
Building Environmental Equity and Practice at the Environmental Protection
Agency
This project, funded by the EPA (Victoria), uses qualitative case studies of
environmental inequity in the Melbourne region to contribute to a recent
environmental citizenship policy initiative. In this project I am responsible for
project management, writing research reports and designing and conducting
field research, which includes video ethnography.
2010 Moreland City Council, Research Officer
Charged with various duties including:SPSS database design, entry, analysis
and reporting; online survey questionnaires and reporting; oversight of focus
group research and final report writing; evaluating government
communications for CALD audiences, together with focus groups from the
Assyrian-Chaldean, Sudanese, Somali and Eritrean communities.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Society for Latin American Studies, UK
Australasian Association for Iberian and Latin American Studies (AILASA)
Latin American Studies Association, USA