Angelica Bernal

Assistant Professor of Political Science

Thompson 334
Office Hours: Spring 2013: Tues/Thurs 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Email: abernal@polsci.umass.edu
Phone: (413) 545-2761

Interests:

I specialize on issues of founding and refounding, popular constitutionalism, and indigenous rights and movements in Latin America.  I am interested in examining the mechanisms and challenges involved in the creation and recreation of political orders, the significance of constitution-making and the law in processes of extraordinary politics, and the role of popular power and "the people" in legitimating radical political change.

Education:
Ph.D., Yale University

Courses Taught:
Undergraduate: Power; Indigenous Rights and Social Movements in Latin America; American Political Thought; Issues in Political Theory (Citizenship) Graduate: Foundings; Arendt; Citizenship

Current Projects:
I am finishing a book manuscript that investigates the politics of constitutive action to rethink the notion of founding. Following on this work, I am pursuing a related project that examines the role of populist presidents in constitution-making episodes in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador. I also continue to conduct research on indigenous environmental claims against petroleum companies and what these cases of national and transnational activism can tell us about the flows of power in a globalized world.