Katherine Maich

Katherine Maich is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on law, gender, labor informality, and domestic work in the Global South, exploring how external factors like policy shape workplace inequality. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Her work bridges feminist theory, race, migration, and labor legislation through ethnographic methods.

• Education: Ph.D. in Sociology, University of California, Berkeley

Her research interests include the intersection of law and labor rights in domestic work, coloniality's impact on household labor dynamics, and global social movements. She has conducted fieldwork in Peru, NYC, Uruguay, Hong Kong, and South Africa. Key projects include a comparative study on domestic worker rights and the effects of paid family leave on maternal health.

Her book Bringing Law Home (2025) analyzes legal frameworks for domestic workers in Lima and NYC, showing how colonial legacies shape labor protections. Recent articles address worker voice, youth unemployment policies, and feminist movement strategies.

• Awards: LRAN New Scholar Award (2020), ASA Early Career Scholar (2019), AAUW Dissertation Fellowship (2015).

Maich collaborates with Oxfam America and the Economic Policy Institute. She previously served as Secretary/Treasurer of the ASA Labor and Labor Movements Section and chairs the Latin American Studies Association’s Labor Section.