Research Interests
Almeida’s research in sociology concentrates on collective mobilization in response to political and economic transitions in the developing world. Dr. Almeida maintains two ongoing research programs. One project examines civil society reactions to globalization and the implementation of market reforms in developing countries. In particular, he studies the likelihood of the emergence of social conflict over the adoption of economic liberalization policies such as austerity measures, structural adjustment, privatization, and free trade. Dr. Almeida’s work also analyzes the political outcomes of social movement campaigns directed at impending neoliberal policies.
Dr. Almeida’s second area of research focuses on social movement dynamics in nondemocratic contexts. In this work, he investigates how excluded social groups with relatively few resources launch collective action campaigns to address social, economic, and political grievances under the conditions of repressive regimes such as military-controlled governments and other forms of authoritarian rule. Understanding social movement mobilization in authoritarian settings also offers insights into when and why political movements may radicalize their goals and tactics.
His research has been funded by the World Society Foundation, UC MEXUS-CONACYT, and the Fulbright Faculty Fellowship Program. He teaches courses on globalization, formal organizations, environmental sociology, and social movements. Almeida serves on the editorial advisory boards of Research in Political Sociology and Mobilization and as a Council member for the Collective Behavior and Social Movements (CBSM) Section of the American Sociological Association. He participated as an international election observer for the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) referendum in Costa Rica in 2007 and the Presidential Elections in El Salvador in 2009.
Honors And Awards
|
2009 |
Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Article Award, American Sociological Association, Section on Labor and Labor Movements |
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2008-2009 |
Fulbright Visiting Professor Fellowship – Universidad de Costa Rica |
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2008-2010 |
Ray A. Rothrock ’77 Fellowship, College of Liberal Arts, Texas A&M University |
| 2004 |
Best Published Article Award, American Sociological Association, Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements |
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2000 |
TA of the Year Award - University of California, Riverside, Department of Sociology |
Selected Publications
- Almeida, Paul D. and Linda Brewster Stearns. 1998. “Political Opportunities and Local Grassroots Environmental Movements: The Case of Minamata.” Social Problems 45(1): 37-60.
- Almeida, Paul D. 1998. "The Network for Environmental and Economic Justice in the Southwest," Pp. 159-187 in D. Faber (ed.) The Struggle for Ecological Democracy: Environmental Justice Movements in the United States. New York: Guilford.
- Almeida, Paul D. 2002. “Los Movimientos Populares contra las Políticas de Austeridad Económica en América Latina entre 1996 y 2001.” Realidad: Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades 86 (Marzo-Abril): 177-189.
- Almeida, Paul D. 2003. “Opportunity Organizations and Threat Induced Contention: Protest Waves in Authoritarian Settings.” American Journal of Sociology 109(2): 345-400.
- (Reprinted in Doug McAdam and David Snow, eds. Social Movements: Readings on Their Emergence, Mobilization, Dynamics and Impact. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010).
- Almeida, Paul D. and Mark I. Lichbach. 2003. “To the Internet, from the Internet: Comparative Media Coverage of Transnational Protest.” Mobilization 8(3): 249-272 (October).
- Stearns, Linda Brewster and Paul D. Almeida. 2004. "The Formation of State Actor-Social Movement Coalitions and Favorable Policy Outcomes.” Social Problems 51(4): 478-504.
- (Reprinted in Fiona Yap, ed. Comparative Politics. New York: McGraw Hill, 2011).
- Almeida, Paul D. 2005. “Multi-Sectoral Coalitions and Popular Movement Participation.” Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change 26: 67-102.
- Almeida, Paul D. 2006. “Social Movement Unionism, Social Movement Partyism, and Policy Outcomes.” Pp. 57-73 in H. Johnston and P. Almeida, eds, Latin American Social Movements: Globalization, Democratization, and Transnational Networks. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
- Almeida, Paul D. 2007. “Organizational Expansion, Liberalization Reversals and Radicalized Collective Action.” Research in Political Sociology 15: 57-99.
- Almeida, Paul D. 2007. “Defensive Mobilization: Popular Movements against Economic Adjustment Policies in Latin America.” Latin American Perspectives 34(3): 123-139.
- Almeida, Paul D. and Erica Walker. 2007. “El Avance de la Globalización Neoliberal: Una Comparación de Tres Campañas de Movimientos Populares en Centroamérica.” Revista Centroamericana de Ciencias Sociales 4(1): 51-76.
- Almeida, Paul D. 2008. “The Sequencing of Success: Organizing Templates and Neoliberal Policy Outcomes.” Mobilization 13(2): 165-187.
- Wood, Lesley, Paul D. Almeida and Benita Roth. 2008. Teaching Social Movements: Syllabi, Assignments and Other Resources. Washington D.C.: American Sociological Association.
- Almeida, Paul D. and Roxana Delgado. 2008. “Gendered Networks and Health Care Privatization.” Advances in Medical Sociology 10: 273-299.
- Almeida, Paul D. 2009. “Social Movements, Political Parties, and Electoral Triumph in El Salvador.” NACLA Report on the Americas 42(6): 16-21.
- Almeida, Paul D. 2010. “Globalization and Collective Action.” Pp. 305-326 in Kevin Leicht and J. Craig Jenkins, eds., Handbook of Politics: State and Society in Global Perspective. New York: Springer.
- Almeida, Paul D. 2010. “Social Movement Partyism: Collective Action and Political Parties.” Pp. 170-196 in N. Van Dyke and H. McCammon, eds,. Strategic Alliances: New Studies of Social Movement Coalitions. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
- Almeida, Paul D. 2010. “El Salvador: Elecciones y Movimientos Sociales.” Revista de Ciencia Política 30(2): 319-334
Books
- Almeida, Paul D. 2008. Waves of Protest: Popular Struggle in El Salvador, 1925-2005. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
- Almeida, Paul D. 2011. Olas de Movilización Popular: Movimientos Sociales en El Salvador, 1925-2010. San Salvador: UCA Editores (504 p.) - updated and Spanish language edition of Waves of Protest.
- Johnston, Hank and Paul D. Almeida. (eds). 2006. Latin American Social Movements: Globalization, Democratization, and Transnational Networks. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
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