Deborah Fromm

Deborah Fromm is a Visiting Professor at the Department of Geography and Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), holding the Urban Studies Foundation International Fellowship 2024. She earned her PhD and Master’s from the University of Campinas, with visiting research periods at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and the Centre for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS, Mexico City). Her research focuses on urban security, insurance markets, and illegal finance, with a strong emphasis on ethnographic methods. Currently, she is investigating the role of insurance in urban governance and the commodification of policing in Brazil, particularly in violent cities. She collaborates with the Global Cars project, funded by FAPESP and ANR, exploring transnational informal vehicle economies. Her work bridges Urban Studies and Security Studies, addressing market dynamics in Latin America beyond traditional poverty narratives.

Key research areas include insurance technopolitics, urban violence, and the intersections of legal and illegal markets. Her publications examine car theft recovery systems in São Paulo, São Paulo’s Crackland as an urban impasse, and global inequalities in vehicle economies. Languages: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish.

Notable awards include the Urban Studies Foundation International Fellowship. Her projects often involve fieldwork in Brazil and Ghana, reflecting her commitment to transnational urban research. Grants include support from FAPESP and ANR for the Global Cars initiative. She contributes to academic networks like CEBRAP’s Urban Ethnography Nucleus, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to urban challenges.