Anjuli N. Fahlberg

Anjuli N. Fahlberg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences, where she also serves as Interim Director of Latin American Studies. Her academic career at Tufts has progressed from Lecturer (2018-2020) to Assistant Professor (2020-2025) to her current position as Associate Professor (2025-present).

Her educational background includes:

• PhD in Sociology from Northeastern University (2018)
• MA in Sociology from Northeastern University (2014)
• BA in Peace & Justice Studies and International Relations from Tufts University (2007)

Fahlberg's research employs an intersectional lens to examine urban violence and social movements across the Americas, with a particular focus on Latin America. She specializes in participatory action research (PAR) methodology, which emphasizes collaboration with community members in all stages of the research process. Her work explores how marginalized communities navigate political repression, organize for social change, and build resilience in contexts of extreme violence and inequality. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in Rio de Janeiro's favelas, particularly in Cidade de Deus, examining nonviolent political activism in gang territories and the impacts of the pandemic on urban poverty.

Her publications reveal a consistent focus on urban violence, social movements, and participatory methodologies, with a geographical concentration on Latin America. Recent work has expanded to include comparative studies of Central America, particularly examining governance models in El Salvador and Honduras. There's a clear methodological trajectory toward increasingly collaborative and community-centered research approaches, with a strong emphasis on translating academic knowledge into actionable insights for community empowerment.

Fahlberg has received numerous prestigious awards for her scholarship:

• Roberto Reis Book Award from the Brazilian Studies Association
• Best Book Award from the Human Rights Section of the International Studies Association
• Honorable Mentions from the Collective Behavior and Social Movement Section of the American Sociological Association and the Global Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems
• Best Dissertation Award by the American Sociological Association
• Dissertation Award by the Collective Behavior and Social Movements Section of the ASA
• Alma J. Young Emerging Scholar Award by the Urban Affairs Association

She has secured significant research funding from organizations including the Social Science Research Council, the American Association of University Women, and the National Science Foundation. Fahlberg actively mentors students through senior honors theses and independent studies, with a teaching philosophy emphasizing critical thinking, inclusion, and treating students as whole people. Her work with the Building Together Research Collective demonstrates her commitment to collaborative knowledge production with community members rather than extractive research practices.

Fahlberg co-directs the Building Together Research Collective, a partnership between American and Brazilian academics based in Boston, Massachusetts, Honduras, El Salvador, and Cidade de Deus, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This collective promotes "peripheral knowledge" - the knowledge and perspectives of people from urban peripheries - and conducts research with, rather than on, marginalized communities. The collective has produced significant work on the social costs of urban violence, pandemic impacts in favelas, and social development in marginalized urban areas.