About

My research explores emergent forms of political life and cross-racial solidarities in contemporary Santiago de Chile, with a focus on the Mapuche communities in neighborhood communities established during the 1960s Poblador movement- poblaciones.

I examine how grassroots actors navigate and challenge government neglect and hostility, particularly during moments of crisis, such as Chile’s Estallido Social and the constitutional re-writing process (2019-2023). This work informs my forthcoming ethnographic monograph, Emergent Citizenships.

Alongside academic writing, I engage in collaborative public scholarship that spans radio, architectural journals, activist media, and digital humanities platforms. My work has appeared in PoLAR Online, Commune Magazine, Paprika! A Yale Journal of Architecture, and Lundimatin, among others. I’ve also co-produced content for radio segments, such as the WFNB Radio Program The Interchange, and participated in transnational speaking tours, such as my presentations on the Estallido Social at WoodBine NYC.

My teaching brings together political anthropology, Indigenous studies, Latin American history, and ethnographic methods. At Emory University, I regularly teach courses on race and ethnicity, cultural theory, and Indigenous and Black politics in the Americas. I’m committed to critical pedagogy and community-engaged research practices, especially with activists, artists, and scholars across Abya Yala.

I’ve received research and funding support from the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Luce Foundation, and Emory’s Center for Digital Scholarship. I’m also an active member of the American Anthropological Association and the Latin American Studies Association.

Beyond my scholarship, I work as a freelance Spanish and English translator for news journalism and election materials, offer consulting services in intercultural communication strategies, and remain involved in transnational solidarity projects and independent media initiatives.

Awards

Society of Professional Journalists, Best in Indiana Journalism Award 2022. (Partisan Gardens and the Farmworker Caravan)

Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Anthropology Student Photography Contest. First Place 2021.

Publications

Emergent Conversation 15: Ethnographic Encounters with Destituent Power.  Political and Legal Anthropology Review Online. March 31^st, 2022 (with Jennifer Curtis)

“The Destituent Assembly in Santiago de Chile’s Dignity Plaza.” in Emergent Conversation: Ethnographic Encounters with Destituent Power. PoLAR Online. March 31st, 2022

Interview with Marcelo Tari. “Re-visiting the Concept of Revolution,” in Emergent Conversation: Ethnographic Encounters with Destituent Power. PoLAR Online. 

Public Scholarship

“Trxfkintu: Fighting Ecological Collapse and Colonial Violence through Mapuche Traditions of Exchange.” Earthbound Farmer’s Almanac Vol. 2.February 2022. (Co-authored with the Mapuche collective Petu Mongelein Janekew)

“The Farmworker Caravan: Mutual Aid in California’s Migrant Worker Communities.” Partisan Gardens. WFHB: Bloomington Radio segment. January 2022.

“Le confinement dans le Chili insurrectionnel: qui contrôle le territoire et comment l’habitons- nous? ” Lundimatin, #243. May 2020. Written under the pseudonym «E-Mil »

“Living through the Social Explosion.” Commune Magazine, #5. April 2020.

“A Thousand hands built these walls: The Indigenous Cultural centers (rukas) in Santiago de Chile.” Paprika! a Yale Journal of Architecture and Urban Design. January. 2020

Media Appearances

Woodbine Podcast Episode #30: “Latin American Autonomy with Anthony Dest and Nikola García Johnson.” Guest Interviewer. October 2025.

Tour Dehors «Danse des laisses pour compte au Chili Soulevement au Chili.» three part interview. January 2023.

“Dignity against Dictatorship: The October 2019 uprisings in Chile.” Virtual speaking tour organized in 10 cities between 2019 and 2021. Commune Magazine.

“Chile Despertó; Chile Woke up.” Radio Segment. Interchange. WFNB: Bloomington.  November 2019