Dr Andreza Aruska de Souza Santos

Andreza completed her PhD in Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews, and holds a master’s degree in Social Sciences jointly awarded by the University of Freiburg and the University of KwaZulu Natal, in Durban.

During her postgraduate studies she also undertook one semester at Jawaharlal Nehru University in India. Prior to this, Andreza completed her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Brasilia.

Having studied in Brazil, Germany, South Africa, India and the UK, Andreza writes about Brazilian politics and city governance comparatively. Before joining King's, she was a lecturer at the University of Oxford and director of the Brazilian Studies Programme (2018-2023). Before that, she was a postdoctoral researcher at Oxford’s School of Anthropology, where she worked at the Urban Transformations portfolio (ESRC).

She has previously worked at Brazil’s Ministry of Social Development, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (Vienna), at the Indian Embassy in Brazil, and at the Brazilian Confederation of Municipalities.

See Andreza’s website: andreza.co.uk

Research

• Informality and precariousness
• Mining towns
• Shrinking towns
• Participatory governance
• Grassroots politics
• Company towns (monotowns)
• Cities and citizenship
• The politics of health
• Sub-national politics

Main projects ongoing:

1. Youth propensity to join military careers in a post-pandemic and post-Bolsonaro Brazil.
2. Economic dependency (especially on mining) and its impact on local governance, gender dynamics, and migration.
3. Citizenship in forest areas (the Amazon).
4. In collaboration with the CADDE Centre local governments response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil.

Andreza's investigation is mainly concerned with the intersections and the dynamics between formal and informal political and economic systems. In her ethnography in Brazil, she has observed participatory politics (Policy Councils): who participates in meetings, how do meetings develop, and which impact do participatory politics have in the city.

She has observed that participating is not the same as voicing concerns, and people may go to meetings but remain silent. Sub-optimal decisions in policy councils are sometimes less costly for participants than confronting established powers in town.

There is a negative relationship between participation and levels of economic dependency. Although grassroots politics is a valuable resource to press for urban amenities, it is important to consider when poverty mobilises or discourages participatory politics.

The following essay published in The Architectural review summarises some of Andreza's research interests: www.architectural-review.com/essays/redefining-the-brazilian-company-town

For Andreza's publications, please see her google scholar profile.

Teaching

Postgraduate

• Contemporary Brazil
• Comparative Politics of Latin America

PhD supervision

Andreza invites PhD students interested in the following themes:

• grassroots politics
• urban governance in the global south
• company towns
• informalities and precariousness
• labour and gender in Brazil

Andreza is supervisor (primary or co-supervisor) for the following students:

• Barbara Abrahao
• Rebeca Kritisch

Further details

See Andreza's research profile