Award Recipient
Anjuli Fahlberg (Northeastern University)
The Urban Affairs Association (UAA), the international professional association for urban scholars, researchers and public service professionals, convened its 47th Annual Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 19-22, 2017. More than 750 participants, representing universities, research institutions, non-profit organizations, and public and private organizations/institutions from around the world met to discuss 21st century issues impacting urban populations and places. Conference participants represented institutions from North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The University of Minnesota served as the local sponsor for the event.
During the conference, awards were presented in recognition of outstanding scholarship and service. Among those honored was Anjuli Fahlberg (Northeastern University). Fahlberg was awarded the 2017 Alma H. Young Emerging Scholar Award. The award is given to a promising Ph.D. candidate or early career researcher whose work demonstrates a commitment to rigorous and impactful research and service.
Award Committee Assessment
The Urban Affairs Association is proud to award Anjuli Fahlberg of Northeastern University the 2017 Alma Young Emerging Scholar Award. Ms. Falhberg is a doctoral candidate in Sociology. She received her MA in Sociology at Northeastern University in 2014 and her BA in Peace & Justice Studies and International Relations in 2007 from Tufts University. Her dissertation is entitled, “Dancing around the Devil: Violence, Poverty, and the New Geographies of Citizenship in Rio de Janeiro” and addresses the research question, “How is citizenship articulated and enacted by the urban poor residing in conflict zones?” We thank her committee, Liza Weinstein (chair); Thomas J. Vicino; Gordana Rabrenovic; Valentine Moghadam; and Diane Davis for mentoring and nominating this exceptional young scholar. Her fieldwork, conducted in Rio de Janeiro’s City of God neighborhood, integrates theories of urban governance and citizenship, political sociology, and conflict and violence. Her inventive ethnographic methodology is dedicated to participatory action research (PAR) and community engagement. We commend her commitment to social justice, for her community service work both in Rio and in Lowell Massachusetts. Ms. Fahlberg has contributed substantially to engaged scholarship and activism to enhance the marginalized citizen’s involvement towards a more just urban governance.
Award Committee
Chair Louise A. Jezierski (Michigan State University); Ferzana Havewala (University of Baltimore); Mark Joseph (Case Western Reserve University); Megan Heim LaFrombois (Auburn University); Joan Wesley (Jackson State University)
Award Winner Bio
Anjuli Fahlberg is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Northeastern University. Her research examines the effects of urban violence and uneven development on citizenship and social change in Latin America. With funding from the National Science Foundation and several university grants, Anjuli’s dissertation research documented the effects of armed conflict between drug traffickers and the military police on the possibilities for social action among non-violent residents in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. Anjuli is now developing a model of participatory action research in conflict zones with a research team at Northeastern University and with residents from the City of God, one of Rio’s most dangerous and vibrant favelas. She plans to employ this model in other Latin American cities. Anjuli has published her research in Habitat International, the Journal of Urban Affairs and Sociology Compass, among others. She received best paper awards from the Latin American Studies Association and the Society for the Study of Social Problems and Northeastern University’s Outstanding Graduate Research Award. She was recently selected for the Humanities Fellowship at Northeastern University.
