Andreza completed her PhD in Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews, and holds a master’s degree in social sciences jointly awarded by the University of Freiburg, JNU in Delhi, and the University of KwaZulu Natal, in Durban. Andreza completed her bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Brasilia.

Having studied in Brazil, Germany, South Africa, India and the UK, Andreza writes about Brazilian politics and city governance comparatively. Before joining King's, she was a lecturer at the University of Oxford and at Oxford she directed the Brazilian Studies Programme (2018-2023). Before that, she was a postdoctoral researcher at Oxford’s School of Anthropology, where she worked at the Urban Transformations portfolio (ESRC).

She has previously worked at Brazil’s Ministry of Social Development, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (Vienna), at the Indian Embassy in Brazil, and at the Brazilian Confederation of Municipalities.

See Andreza’s website: andreza.co.uk

Research

• Informality and precariousness
• Mining towns
• Shrinking towns
• Participatory governance
• Grassroots politics
• Company towns (monotowns)
• Cities and citizenship
• The politics of health
• Sub-national politics

Main projects ongoing:

1. Youth propensity to join military careers in a post-pandemic and post-Bolsonaro Brazil.
2. Economic dependency (especially on mining) and its impact on local governance, gender dynamics, and migration.
3. Citizenship in forest areas (the Amazon).
4. In collaboration with the CADDE Centre local governments response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil.

Andreza is a political anthropologist who has substantial contribution to city governance in Brazil. She uses quantitative and qualitative data to investigate how socio-economic contexts affect political decision-making. Looking at quantitative data such as income, emplyment, taxes, and indicators in health, and education, combined with ethnography in policy councils, Andreza has observed the intersections and the dynamics between formal and informal political and economic systems. In her ethnography in Brazil, she has witnessed how policy meetings develop, and which impact economic indicators have in participatory mechanisms.

She has perceived that participating is not the same as voicing concerns, and people may go to meetings but remain silent. Sub-optimal decisions in policy councils are sometimes less costly for participants than confronting established powers in town. There is a negative relationship between participation and levels of economic dependency and although grassroots politics is a valuable resource to press for urban amenities, it is important to consider when poverty mobilises or discourages participatory politics.

The following essay published in The Architectural review summarises some of Andreza's research interests: www.architectural-review.com/essays/redefining-the-brazilian-company-town

Andreza has published one book on the relationship between mining and politics in Brazil which has been translated to Portuguese.

Andreza has also co-edited three books about the intersections of politics and sub-national governance in emerging economies. On top of that, she has published extensively on social and economic indicators, including during the pandemic as such analyses were essential to better understand Brazil’s performance in that health emergency. Her publications include articles in Journals such as The Lancet, Nature Human Behaviour, Nature Scientific Data, amongst others. Andreza’s interests in local governance in combination with multi-methods skills and experience in different countries in the world sustain her interdisciplinary record and comparative interests.

For Andreza's publications, please see her google scholar profile.

Teaching

Postgraduate

• Contemporary Brazil
• Comparative Politics of Latin America

PhD supervision

Andreza invites PhD students interested in the following themes:

• Grassroots politics
• Urban governance in the Global South
• Informalities and precariousness
• Labour and gender in Brazil

Andreza is currently supervisor or co-supervisor for the following students:

• Anna Raposo de Mello
• Rute Oliveira
• Bianca Ambrosetti
• Yuyun Li
• Jhonas Dias
• Barbara Abrahao (University of Oxford)
• Rebeca Kirsch (University of Oxford)
• André Silva (UFBA)

Further details

See Andreza's research profile