In my teaching and cross-cultural research and teaching, I explore environmental and social movements, political culture, social justice, cities, and food. I have conducted ethnographic research in Hungary, Portugal, and the United States. In my 2006 book, Wild Capitalism: Environmental Activists and Post-socialist Political Ecology in Hungary (2006), I examined the shifting meanings of “civil society” and “environment” as environmentalists encountered new political and ecological realities after state socialism. More recently, I have used participatory digital research methods such as PhotoVoice to investigate the public health and environmental issues of Hungarian Roma (Gypsies) communities and youth activism in community food systems in western Massachusetts. My book "Participatory Visual and Digital Research" (with co-author Aline Gubrium) will be published by Left Coast Press in early 2013. My next international research project focuses on urban agriculture and heritage policies in Portugal. I am the co-PI (with Jacqueline Urla) of a three-year NSF research and training grant, "Cultural Heritage in European Societies and Spaces" (NSF-OISE #0968575).
Books
Participatory Visual & Digital Methods (with Aline Gubrium) (2013)
Table of contents and introduction of Participatory Visual and Digital Methods by Aline Gubrium and...
Wild Capitalism: Environmental Activism and Postsocialist Political Ecology in Hungary (2006)
"Wild Capitalism" examines environmental issues in the "New Europe" of the twenty-first century. Specifically, it...
Articles
Visual interventions and the “crises in representation” in environmental anthropology: Researching environmental justice in a Hungarian Romani neighborhood, Human Organization (2012)
Participatory visual research, or "visual interventions" (Pink 2007) allow environmental anthropologists to respond to three...
A Photovoice Participatory Evaluation of a School Gardening Program through the Eyes of Fifth Graders (with Catherine Sands, Lee Ellen Reed, and Maggie Shar), Practicing Anthropology (2009)
In the springtime, fifth grade students at the Williamsburg Elementary School in rural Western Massachusetts...
Environmental Justice and Roma Communities in Central and Eastern Europe (with Tamara Steger and Richard Filcak), Environmental Policy and Governance (2009)
Environmental injustice and the social exclusion of Roma communities in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)...
Great Expectations? The Changing Role of “Europe” in Romani Activism in Hungary (with Peter Vermeersch), "Ethnic mobilization in the new Europe," Conference proceedings (2006)
Contemporary political action for ethnic and national minorities in Europe appears to be increasingly directed...
'Wild Capitalism’ and ‘Ecocolonialism’: A Tale of Two Rivers, American Anthropologist (2005)
The development and pollution of two rivers, the Danube and Tisza, have been the site...
Contributions to Books
International Environmental Justice: Building the Natural Assets of the World’s Poor (with S. Ravi Rajan), Reclaiming Nature: Environmental Justice and Ecological Restoration (2007)
In recent years, vibrant social movements have emerged across the world to fight for environmental...
Popular Press
Radio interview: "Growth of far right in Hungary poses a danger to Roma" (with Peter Driftmeier), Redeye Radio, Vancouver, BC (2010)
Right-wing and far-right parties made significant gains in Hungary's recent national election. This rise in...
Presentations
Photovoice/Fotovoz: Como começar (with Ana Isabel Afonso), Associação pela Valorização Ambientale da Alta de Lisboa (AVAAL) (2013)
Como começar uma pesquisa participativa utilizando o metódo Fotovoz (Photovoice).
Participatory Visual & Digital Methods: Democratizing and Decolonizing Research, University of Barcelona, Visual Anthropology colloquium (2013)
Presentation based on my book with Aline Gubrium, Participatory Visual and Digital Methodologies (Left Coast...
Across the Bridge: Using PhotoVoice to Investigate Environment and Health in a Hungarian Romani (Gypsy) Community, European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) (2010)
New Directions in Participatory Visual Ethnography: Possibilities for Public Anthropology, American Anthropological Association (2009)
New visual technologies are changing the ways that anthropologists do research and opening up new...
Lives, Images, Audiences, Intentions: Participatory Visual Anthropology in a Hungarian Romani Neighborhood, America Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS) (2009)
Participatory visual methodologies open up new possibilities for community collaboration in the research process, appeal...
Photo exhibitions
Across the Bridge: Using PhotoVoice to Study Environment and Health in a Romani Community. (with The Sajó River Association for Environment and Community Development, Hungary), (PhotoVoice exhibition catalogue) (2009)
This photo essay is the product of a partnership between Prof. Krista Harper, the Sajó...