Roberta S. Pamplona
Hi/Olá! I am an assistant professor of sociological theory at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada. I hold a PhD in Sociology with a collaborative specialization in Women and Gender Studies from the University of Toronto. My areas of specialization include feminist and postcolonial theories, law and society, political sociology, critical criminology, and Latin American studies. I’m interested in how feminist ideas move through political contexts and shape state responses to violence, how racialized ideologies influence these processes, and what these dynamics mean for activism on the ground. My work has been recently published in the journals Gender & Society and Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society
My book project investigates the feminist politics surrounding the Feminicídio Law in Brazil, a feminist-inspired legal reform addressing the killing of women and girls. I situate this analysis within global dynamics, including the rise of anti-gender discourses and the expansion of carceral policies. By linking these broader trends to activists’ discourses and practices, I expand how we theorize the political afterlife of lawmaking on violence. The project examines the contradictions and dilemmas of feminist praxis in relation to violence, social justice, and social inequalities. This research has been recognized with awards from the Law & Society Association (LSA) and the Canadian Sociological Association (CSA).
My research on violence and social justice includes collaborations on two projects: the SSHRC Insight Grant (2021–2026), Bringing Democracy into the Law: Urban Inequalities and Struggles over Rights and Fairness in the Brazilian Justice System at the University of Toronto (PI: Prof. Luisa Farah Schwartzman), and a national project on homicides and state responses in Brazil led by Prof. Rochele Fachinetto at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
In the area of social movements and social justice, I am working with my colleague Brody Trottier on a project examining contemporary strategies of Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra), focusing on the movement’s growing appeal among young Brazilians living in urban centers.
Before coming to Canada to pursue my PhD, I worked as a volunteer with various grassroots organizations and as a research assistant on several projects related to violence in Brazil. I grew up as a settler in southern Brazil, moving between Palhoça (where my family is from) and Porto Alegre (where I studied and worked). I enjoy reading novels and memoirs about millennials living under capitalism, baking, biking, and doing pottery.