Diane E. Davis
Professor of political sociology and head of the International Development Group, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
areas of expertise: conflict cities (especially jerusalem and other middle east cities), rapidly urbanizing cities (especially in mexico, india, china, and south africa), resilient cities and conflict resilience, post-conflict development, policing and public security issues, international development
Diane E. Davis is professor of political sociology in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT, as well as head of the International Development Group.
She is the author of Urban Leviathan: Mexico City in the Twentieth Century (Temple University Press, 1994; Spanish translation 1999) and the award-winning Discipline and Development: Middle Classes and Prosperity in East Asia and Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 2004), as well as co-editor of Violence, Coercion, and Rights in the Americas (Sage Publications, 2000), Irregular Armed Forces and Their Role in Politics and State Formation (Cambridge University Press, 2003) and a forthcoming volume titled Cities and Sovereignty: Identity Conflicts in the Urban Realm (Indiana University Press, 2010).
In addition to her writings on the history and politics of urban growth in the developing world, Davis has published articles on public space, local governance, urban social movements, democratic transition and rule of law in urban Latin America.
Her most recent research, supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, examines the evolution of policing in the developing world, both public and private, with a focus on Mexico City, Moscow and Johannesburg.
request an interview: Sarah McDonnell | 617-253-8923 | s_mcd@mit.edu