Sujatha Fernandes Office: Powdermaker Hall 252 Z Phone: (718) 997-2841 Fax: (718) 997-2820 Email: sujathaf@yahoo.com

Sujatha Fernandes is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Queens College, City University of New York. Prior to joining Queens College she was a Wilson-Cotsen Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University's Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts (2003-2006). She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago in 2003. She has taught classes on Social Theory, Latin American politics, Caribbean politics and society, and cultural politics. Her research interests include the politics of art; the interconnections of gender, race, and class; state-society relations; urban public space; and the role of culture in social movements; with an area focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. For the 2007-2008 academic year, Dr Fernandes is a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for the Humanities, CUNY Graduate Center.

Dr Fernandes is the author of Cuba Represent! Cuban Arts, State Power, and the Making of New Revolutionary Cultures (Duke University Press, October 2006). She is currently working on two new books. One is based on her field research in Venezuela, and is entitled In the Spirit of Negro Primero: Urban Social Movements in Chávez's Venezuela. The other is a memoir, Close to the Edge: In Search of the Global Hip Hop Generation.

Access Fernandes CV

Selected Articles:

2007. “Barrio Women and Popular Politics in Chávez's Venezuela.” Latin American Politics and Society, Fall 2007, Volume 49, Number 3, pp 97 – 127.

2007. “Proven Presence: The Emergence of a Feminist Politics in Cuban Hip-Hop.” Home Girls, Make Some Noise!: Hip Hop Feminism Anthology, Mira Loma, California: Parker Publishing, LLC, pp 5 – 18.

2006. “Mambíses, Malandros, and Maleantes: Imaginerías Colectivas de Luchas y Supervivencia en el Rap Cubano y Venezolano.” Revista Iberoamericana, special issue edited by Alejandro Bruzual, Vol. LXXII, Octubre-Diciembre 2006, Núm. 217, pp 973 – 987.

2006. “Recasting Ideology, Recreating Hegemony: Critical Debates about Film in Contemporary Cuba.” Ethnography, Volume 7, Number 3, Autumn 2006.

2006. with Jason Stanyek, “Hip Hop and Black Public Spheres in Venezuela, Cuba and Brazil.” Beyond Slavery: The Multi-Layered Legacy of Africans in Latin America, edited by Darien Davis, New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, pp 199 - 222.

2006. “Ethnicity, Civil Society and the Church: The Politics of Evangelical Christianity in Northeast India.” Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Asia, edited by David Lumsdaine, Oxford University Press, New York.

2005. “Transnationalism and Feminist Activism in Cuba: The Case of Magín.” Politics & Gender, Volume 1, Number 3, September 2005, pp 431- 452.

2003. “Fear of a Black Nation: Local Rappers, Transnational Crossings and State Power in Contemporary Cuba.” Anthropological Quarterly, Volume 76, Number 4, Fall 2003, pp 575 – 608.

2003. “Island Paradise, Revolutionary Utopia or Hustler's Haven? Consumerism and Socialism in Contemporary Cuban Rap.” Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies, Volume 12, Number 3, Fall 2003, pp 359 – 375.

Fernandes - Recent commentary on Latin American and the Caribbean:

“Cuba’s Changing Leadership and the Dynamics of Civil Society,” Online forum, Change in Cuba, Social Sciences Research Council, March 2008.

“The Trajectory of Indigenous Politics in Latin America,” Economic and Political Weekly 42(39) and Znet, February 26, 2008.

“What Does the ‘No’ Vote Mean?” The Nation, Online Forum on Venezuela, December 6, 2007.

“What is at Stake in Venezuela’s Reform Referendum?” Economic and Political Weekly 42(47) and Znet, November 11, 2007.

“The Gender Agenda of the Pink Tide in Latin America,” Economic and Political Weekly 42(39) and Znet, October 4, 2007.

“Democracy and Constitutional Reform: Rewriting the Constitution in Bolivia and Venezuela,” Economic and Political Weekly 42(21) and Znet, June 6, 2007.

“Political Parties and Social Change: Debates about a New Socialist Party in Venezuela,” Economic and Political Weekly 42(10) and Znet, March 19, 2007.

“A View from the Barrios: Hugo Chávez as an Expression of Urban Popular Movements,” LASA Forum Focus, Winter 2007, Vol 28, Issue 1, pp 17 – 19.

“Savvy Marketing or Debating the Issues: Recent Elections in Latin America,” Economic and Political Weekly 42(1) and Znet, January 11, 2007.

“With or Without Fidel: The Future of the Cuban Revolution,” Economic and Political Weekly 41(38) and Znet, October 29, 2006.

“Smelter Struggle: Trinidad Fishing Community Fights Aluminum Project,” Corpwatch, September 6, 2006.

“Way Forward for the Left: Debates over Electoral Strategy in Mexico,” Economic and Political Weekly 41(31) and Znet, August 9, 2006.

“Trade Treaties and Challenging US Hegemony in the Americas,” Economic and Political Weekly 41(20) and Znet, June 12, 2006.

“Beyond the World Social Forum,” Economic and Political Weekly 41(13) and Znet, April 6, 2006.

“Saints of Venezuela: Reclaiming Religious Fiestas,” Colorlines: Race, Culture, Action, Spring 2006.

“Growing Movement of Community Radio in Venezuela,” Economic and Political Weekly 41(4) and Znet, December 24, 2005.

Class website: Whose work allows NYC to function?

In my Honors class, The Peopling of New York City, the students did individual research projects on construction workers, domestic workers, restaurant workers, taxi drivers, street vendors, gas station attendants, and other groups in the city, documenting the role played by immigrant workers in the economy of New York City. The students worked with immigrant worker organizations in the city and they created a website. I have compiled their final papers into an e-book which is also available on the website. Here is the link to the website:

Access Class Website

Professor Fernandes' Book