Anna Calasanti

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Anna Calasanti

1010 Jenkins Nanovic Halls
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN 46556

(574) 631-3426
acalasan@nd.edu

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Anna Calasanti

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Anna Calasanti is a postdoctoral research associate in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, and the managing editor of the journal Studies in Comparative International Development. She earned a PhD in political science from the University of New Mexico, specializing in comparative politics and methodology. She also holds an MA in political science from the University of New Mexico, where she was a Latin American and Iberian Institute PhD Fellow; an MA in public and international affairs from George Mason University, and a BA in political science from Guilford College.

Calasanti’s dissertation, “Women’s Property Ownership and Empowerment in Latin America” explores the conditions under which women’s property ownership provides leverage at the household level. Focusing on Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras, her analysis underscores the importance of property ownership in women’s decision-making ability, experiences of intimate partner violence, and vulnerability to marital coercion. Calasanti argues that access to property is a major lever which has the potential to encourage a change in norms, particularly for the most poor and marginalized women.

Calasanti’s broader research combines intersectional theory and innovative methodological approaches (qualitative and quantitative) to unpack and address inequities in political and economic development in countries across the world. This includes questions about women and empowerment, experiences of intimate partner violence, bodily autonomy, environmental justice and health inequalities, decision-making and access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH), and violence against marginalized leaders during times of crisis.

Recent Work

  • Intersectional Inequalities in Industrial Air Pollution (Public Health Post)
  • Camila Alvarez, Anna Calasanti, Clare Evans, and Kerry Ard. Forthcoming. “Intersectional Inequalities in the Patterning of Industrial Air Toxin Exposures.” Health and Place
  • Anna Calasanti and Bailey Gerrits. 2021. “‘You’re Not My Nanny!’ Responses to Racialized Women Leaders During COVID-19.” Politics, Groups, and Identities. Online first, available here.
  • Anna Calasanti and Bailey Gerrits. Forthcoming. “Governing as a Woman: Disasters and Double Standards,” in Governors and the Crises that Define Them, edited by Saladin Ambar, John Farmer, Kristoffer Shields, and John Weingart. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
  • Clara Araújo, Anna Calasanti, and Mala Htun. 2018. “Women, Power, and Policy in Brazil,” Gender and Representation in Latin America, ed. Leslie Schwindt-Bayer, Oxford University Press, 211-227.