Robert Jansen

Appointment: 2009 to 2012
Sociology

I received my Ph.D. in Sociology from UCLA in 2009. My interests include political sociology, the sociology of culture, comparative and historical research methods, and sociological theory.

My dissertation explored the cultural bases and practical organization of contentious politics by examining the historical emergence of a new mode of politics in early twentieth century Latin America: populist mobilization. Through the in-depth study of a strategically selected case (Peru’s 1931 presidential contest), situated in historical and comparative perspective, it addressed the questions of when, why, how, and with what consequences politicians pursue populist mobilization.

I am currently working on two projects. The first is a book on the historical emergence populism in Peru in the early twentieth century. The second is a multi-country comparative study of the consequences of populist mobilization and the patterning of cycles of recurring populism in Latin America. This project covers the seventy-five year period from the initial emergence of populism through the recent rise of “neo-populism.”