Melissa Teixeira

Melissa Teixeira is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on modern Brazil, legal history, and economic life, with a particular emphasis on state-building processes and transnational influences. She holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University, an M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge, and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Her book *A Third Path: Corporatism in Brazil & Portugal* (Princeton UP, 2024) examines Brazil’s interwar corporatist experiment as a response to global capitalist crises, arguing that this authoritarian-driven model redefined state roles in economic development. Her current project, *Inflation and the Making of Brazilian Democracy*, explores how inflation shaped post-1964 democratic struggles through economic policy debates and societal adaptations.

Teixeira teaches courses on Latin American history, economic history, and global capitalism. She previously served as a postdoctoral Prize Fellow in Economics, History, and Politics at Harvard University. Her research bridges economic, legal, and social dimensions of history, emphasizing comparative/transnational methodologies and grassroots economic practices.