María José Álvarez–rivadulla
Biographic Data
| ID | 741571 |
|---|---|
| NAME | María José Álvarez–rivadulla |
| GIVEN NAMES | María José |
| FAMILY NAME | Álvarez–rivadulla |
| SIGNATURE | RIVADULLA M J Á |
| AFFILIATIONS | Universidad de los Andes |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9214-8517 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 100 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Relational Work and Policy Change: Feminizing the Local State from Within in Bogotá
In this article we argue that relational work between the state and civil society is crucial for social change, focusing on the relational work between activist bureaucrats and citizen representatives in the development of Bogotá’s gender and care policies. While existing literature shows that social movement embeddedness within the state helps explain why some governments achieve more egalitarian outcomes, this structural concept lacks micro-lev…
Cross-class interactions and subjective inequality: Perceptions, beliefs and distributive preferences at a Colombian elite university
This study examines how cross-class interactions influence perceptions and beliefs of inequality, and distributive preferences. It is based on the implementation of Ser Pilo Paga , a government program that granted access to high-quality higher education for low-income students in Colombia. Drawing on 61 in-depth interviews and complementary survey data, we find that exposure to peers from different socioeconomic backgrounds recalibrates students…
The Power of Critical Engagement: What Does it Mean to do Critical Urban Scholarship from the South
In this essay I reflect upon the challenges of conducting critical urban research from the global South, where profound inequalities and limited resources shape our work and where, at the same time, academics are often called upon for help by communities, social movements and governments alike. Drawing from experiences during my research in Latin America, I explore the complexities of engaging with marginalized communities, whose aspirations some…
Making the state care: The role of political willingness and brokerage in Bogota’s new feminist care policy
This article examines the crucial role of political willingness and brokerage in the implementation of Bogotá's new feminist care policy, the ‘System of Care', which aims to address gender and class inequalities and alleviate care burdens on women. Through a combination of ethnographic data and stakeholder interviews, we analyze the intricate political and social processes that underpin the policy's effectiveness. Drawing on academic literature a…
Urban Care for Unpaid Caregivers: Community Voices in the Care Block Program, in Bogotá, Colombia
The Care Block of Bogotá, Colombia, is an urban program that offers services for low-income unpaid caregivers. This study aimed to (i) characterize unpaid caregivers' subjective well-being, mental health symptoms, physical activity levels, and use of public spaces linked to the Care Block; (ii) identify caregivers' perceived built and social environment facilitators and barriers to accessing the Care Block facility; and (iii) document the communi…
The elephant in the (class) room: Cultural capital as personal differences and college segregation
This article presents findings from two projects that explore the experiences of working-class students at elite colleges. The first project is a national study that included 19 focus groups with 183 participants in a forgivable loan program and additional interviews and focus groups with non-scholarship students, professors, and administrators. The second project is an in-depth ethnographic study that included 61 interviews with recipients of th…
Spatial segregation patterns and association with built environment features in Colombian cities
Spatial segregation is a pressing issue in Latin American cities due to high urbanization, population density, and inequalities. This study examines segregation patterns in 84 middle to large cities in Colombia and their relationship with the spatial configuration of cities using satellite data. The analysis focuses on evenness and isolation metrics of segregation for ethnicity, education level, and employment status. The findings reveal higher s…
Los beneficiarios de ser pilo paga en el mercado laboral: Experiencias de movilidad social, incertidumbre y recursividad
Logra la educación superior de alta calidad nivelar las desigualdades de base que existen entre estudiantes de distintos orígenes socioeconómicos? En este artículo comparamos la inserción al mercado laboral de los beneficiarios del programa Ser Pilo Paga y sus compañeros de clase alta que se graduaron en Derecho e Ingeniería de Sistemas de una universidad de élite. Los resultados muestran que los ‘pilos’ han experimentado un grado importante de m…
The relational costs of crossing class lines
How do low socioeconomic status students navigate cross-class interactions in extremely unequal contexts? Previous research has described the high costs of college integration for underprivileged students, which in turn, negatively impact academic performance and general wellbeing. These studies tend to concentrate on cultural capital costs, such as catching up with assumed middle-class or elite capital and dealing with two worlds. Less has been …
College integration and social class
Decisiones educativas y prácticas de reproducción de clase en sectores medios-altos en Montevideo
This article analyzes the educational decisions of the Montevideo upper middle classes and their significance as practices of reproduction and class distinction. Based on a time series of household surveys and the qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with university professionals, the article investigates how the upper middle classes choose the education of their children. To do this, it identifies and describes several different profiles:…
La ilusión de una región de clases medias: El caso de Uruguay
The expansion of middle-income sectors has, in recent years, drawn the attention of academia, international organizations, and governments. However, more recently, several studies have pointed to the vulnerability of these sectors. Based on household surveys, this paper analyzes the evolution of the middle classes in Uruguay in recent decades (1993-2016) using two complementary measures: one based on income and the other on occupation. The result…
Good will hunting: Social Integration of Students Receiving Forgivable Loans for College Education in Contexts of High Inequality
This article explores the black box of college adaptation and social integration of low SES students entering higher education under a forgivable loans program. It does so by studying a context of extreme educational and economic inequality. The magnitude of this study offers an unprecedented window to observe interactions between different social classes in college. Drawing on two different fieldworks, this study is based on 19 focal groups in 8…
The Normalization of Bogota Social Housing Residents: Class Tensions in Third World Urban Peripheries
Strangers with different economic needs come to live together in social housing projects, posing an organizational challenge. In most current Latin American cities, this tends to be in standardized complexes with small apartments in segregated peripheries. Many residents change from living in informal neighborhoods to a different type of urban citizenship based on partially subsidized home ownership, which they experience as social mobility. Othe…
"Los becados con los becados y los ricos con los ricos"? Interacciones entre clases sociales distintas en una universidad de elite
Qué sucede cuando los desiguales se juntan? En este artículo se analiza la interacción entre clases sociales altas y bajas en una universidad en Colombia, uno de los países más inequitativos y fragmentados del mundo, a partir de un programa estatal de becas. Con base en entrevistas a profundidad, observación etnográfica y grupos focales, se encuentra que el programa provee oportunidades inéditas para que los jóvenes de sectores populares interact…
The Weakness Of Symbolic Boundaries: Handling Exclusion Among Montevideo's Squatters
This article argues that material conditions limit the possibilities of symbolic boundaries becoming markers of social differentiation, especially among stigmatized groups. Using squatter settlements in Montevideo, Uruguay, as a case study, it shows that symbolic boundaries are hard to maintain when material conditions and the stigmas associated with certain places work against them. Based on participant observation and oral histories, it analyse…
An Interview with Göran Therborn
María José Álvarez (MJA): What are we talking about when we talk about inequality? What is your definition of inequality? Göran Therborn (GT): Inequality is a historical social construction which allocates the possibilities of realizing human capacity unequally. It is a historical social construction; it is not something which is given by nature or by God. There are differences which are given, but the important thing about inequality is the uneq…
Mesa redonda: La sociología en Colombia, tres miradas, tres historias, múltiples retos. Entrevista a Luis Gabriela Arango, Fernando Cubides y Francisco Leal
Turismo y pobreza en la ciudad
Touring Poverty nos habla de una práctica cada vez más frecuente y controversial: la inclusión de cierto tipo de pobreza en el circuito del turismo internacional. Analiza la transformación de barrios populares del Sur global de invisibles a presentes en guías turísticas, de olvidados a vistos como exóticos, auténticos, y como parte de los monumentos y lugares que deben \nser visitados para conocer una ciudad, o, aún más, como íconos de esa ciudad…
Beautifying the Slum: Cable Car Fetishism in Cazucá, Colombia
The installation of cable cars as part of slum beautification projects has begun to circulate among politicians, planners and residents as a magical solution that offers social and economic integration to historically marginalized urban areas. This paper analyzes the way in which a cable car project became a fetish for the inhabitants, politicians and planners ofCazucá, a very deprived, abandoned and stigmatized area on the outskirts ofBogotá,Col…
Las invasiones de tierras y la izquierda en la ciudad: Montevideo, Uruguay, 1984-2011
En la última década del siglo XX la ciudad de Montevideo sufrió cambios drásticos. El número de barrios informales creció como nunca en la historia de la ciudad. Muchos de esos barrios se formaron a partir de invasiones organizadas, es decir, mediante un proceso en el que un grupo identificó un terreno disponible, lo invadió, trazó calles y lotes, negoció con las autoridades y se organizó para demandar servicios públicos. Este artículo se pregunt…
Clientelism or Something Else? Squatter Politics in Montevideo
Through the in-depth ethnographic study of one squatter neighborhood in Montevideo and its leader's political networks, this article illustrates a successful strategy through which some squatter neighborhoods have fought for their right to the city. This consists of opportunistic, face-to-face relationships between squatter leaders and politicians of various factions and parties as intermediaries to get state goods, such as water, building materi…
Golden Ghettos: Gated Communities and Class Residential Segregation in Montevideo, Uruguay
In this paper, I examine the local expression of a global phenomenon: gated communities in Montevideo, Uruguay. Focusing on the residents' perspective, I investigate microlevel processes of class segregation. I analyze residential and class trajectories, motivations for moving, and consequences of the move. I rely on interviews with residents, developers, architects, and real-estate agents; advertisements; and ethnographic field notes. A major fi…
Standardized Income Inequality Data for Use in Cross-National Research
This article introduces the first version of a new, standardized data tool that can be used to test models of global income allocation, the Standardized Income Distribution Database (SIDD). It is based on a comprehensive collection of income distribution data compiled by the United Nations University's World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER 2000). International and intertemporal inconsistencies in these data have historical…
Golden Ghettos: Gated Communities and Class Residential Segregation in Montevideo, Uruguay
In this paper, I examine the local expression of a global phenomenon: gated communities in Montevideo, Uruguay. Focusing on the residents' perspective, I investigate microlevel processes of class segregation. I analyze residential and class trajectories, motivations for moving, and consequences of the move. I rely on interviews with residents, developers, architects, and real-estate agents; advertisements; and ethnographic field notes. A major fi…
Standardized Income Inequality Data for Use in Cross-National Research
This article introduces the first version of a new, standardized data tool that can be used to test models of global income allocation, the Standardized Income Distribution Database (SIDD). It is based on a comprehensive collection of income distribution data compiled by the United Nations University's World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER 2000). International and intertemporal inconsistencies in these data have historical…
Clientelism or Something Else? Squatter Politics in Montevideo
Through the in-depth ethnographic study of one squatter neighborhood in Montevideo and its leader's political networks, this article illustrates a successful strategy through which some squatter neighborhoods have fought for their right to the city. This consists of opportunistic, face-to-face relationships between squatter leaders and politicians of various factions and parties as intermediaries to get state goods, such as water, building materi…
The relational costs of crossing class lines
How do low socioeconomic status students navigate cross-class interactions in extremely unequal contexts? Previous research has described the high costs of college integration for underprivileged students, which in turn, negatively impact academic performance and general wellbeing. These studies tend to concentrate on cultural capital costs, such as catching up with assumed middle-class or elite capital and dealing with two worlds. Less has been …
The Weakness Of Symbolic Boundaries: Handling Exclusion Among Montevideo's Squatters
This article argues that material conditions limit the possibilities of symbolic boundaries becoming markers of social differentiation, especially among stigmatized groups. Using squatter settlements in Montevideo, Uruguay, as a case study, it shows that symbolic boundaries are hard to maintain when material conditions and the stigmas associated with certain places work against them. Based on participant observation and oral histories, it analyse…
Beautifying the Slum: Cable Car Fetishism in Cazucá, Colombia
The installation of cable cars as part of slum beautification projects has begun to circulate among politicians, planners and residents as a magical solution that offers social and economic integration to historically marginalized urban areas. This paper analyzes the way in which a cable car project became a fetish for the inhabitants, politicians and planners ofCazucá, a very deprived, abandoned and stigmatized area on the outskirts ofBogotá,Col…
Making the state care: The role of political willingness and brokerage in Bogota’s new feminist care policy
This article examines the crucial role of political willingness and brokerage in the implementation of Bogotá's new feminist care policy, the ‘System of Care', which aims to address gender and class inequalities and alleviate care burdens on women. Through a combination of ethnographic data and stakeholder interviews, we analyze the intricate political and social processes that underpin the policy's effectiveness. Drawing on academic literature a…
The Normalization of Bogota Social Housing Residents: Class Tensions in Third World Urban Peripheries
Strangers with different economic needs come to live together in social housing projects, posing an organizational challenge. In most current Latin American cities, this tends to be in standardized complexes with small apartments in segregated peripheries. Many residents change from living in informal neighborhoods to a different type of urban citizenship based on partially subsidized home ownership, which they experience as social mobility. Othe…
"Los becados con los becados y los ricos con los ricos"? Interacciones entre clases sociales distintas en una universidad de elite
Qué sucede cuando los desiguales se juntan? En este artículo se analiza la interacción entre clases sociales altas y bajas en una universidad en Colombia, uno de los países más inequitativos y fragmentados del mundo, a partir de un programa estatal de becas. Con base en entrevistas a profundidad, observación etnográfica y grupos focales, se encuentra que el programa provee oportunidades inéditas para que los jóvenes de sectores populares interact…
Las invasiones de tierras y la izquierda en la ciudad: Montevideo, Uruguay, 1984-2011
En la última década del siglo XX la ciudad de Montevideo sufrió cambios drásticos. El número de barrios informales creció como nunca en la historia de la ciudad. Muchos de esos barrios se formaron a partir de invasiones organizadas, es decir, mediante un proceso en el que un grupo identificó un terreno disponible, lo invadió, trazó calles y lotes, negoció con las autoridades y se organizó para demandar servicios públicos. Este artículo se pregunt…
Good will hunting: Social Integration of Students Receiving Forgivable Loans for College Education in Contexts of High Inequality
This article explores the black box of college adaptation and social integration of low SES students entering higher education under a forgivable loans program. It does so by studying a context of extreme educational and economic inequality. The magnitude of this study offers an unprecedented window to observe interactions between different social classes in college. Drawing on two different fieldworks, this study is based on 19 focal groups in 8…
Spatial segregation patterns and association with built environment features in Colombian cities
Spatial segregation is a pressing issue in Latin American cities due to high urbanization, population density, and inequalities. This study examines segregation patterns in 84 middle to large cities in Colombia and their relationship with the spatial configuration of cities using satellite data. The analysis focuses on evenness and isolation metrics of segregation for ethnicity, education level, and employment status. The findings reveal higher s…
La ilusión de una región de clases medias: El caso de Uruguay
The expansion of middle-income sectors has, in recent years, drawn the attention of academia, international organizations, and governments. However, more recently, several studies have pointed to the vulnerability of these sectors. Based on household surveys, this paper analyzes the evolution of the middle classes in Uruguay in recent decades (1993-2016) using two complementary measures: one based on income and the other on occupation. The result…
Golden Ghettos: Gated Communities and Class Residential Segregation in Montevideo, Uruguay
In this paper, I examine the local expression of a global phenomenon: gated communities in Montevideo, Uruguay. Focusing on the residents' perspective, I investigate microlevel processes of class segregation. I analyze residential and class trajectories, motivations for moving, and consequences of the move. I rely on interviews with residents, developers, architects, and real-estate agents; advertisements; and ethnographic field notes. A major fi…
Standardized Income Inequality Data for Use in Cross-National Research
This article introduces the first version of a new, standardized data tool that can be used to test models of global income allocation, the Standardized Income Distribution Database (SIDD). It is based on a comprehensive collection of income distribution data compiled by the United Nations University's World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER 2000). International and intertemporal inconsistencies in these data have historical…
Las invasiones de tierras y la izquierda en la ciudad: Montevideo, Uruguay, 1984-2011
En la última década del siglo XX la ciudad de Montevideo sufrió cambios drásticos. El número de barrios informales creció como nunca en la historia de la ciudad. Muchos de esos barrios se formaron a partir de invasiones organizadas, es decir, mediante un proceso en el que un grupo identificó un terreno disponible, lo invadió, trazó calles y lotes, negoció con las autoridades y se organizó para demandar servicios públicos. Este artículo se pregunt…
Clientelism or Something Else? Squatter Politics in Montevideo
Through the in-depth ethnographic study of one squatter neighborhood in Montevideo and its leader's political networks, this article illustrates a successful strategy through which some squatter neighborhoods have fought for their right to the city. This consists of opportunistic, face-to-face relationships between squatter leaders and politicians of various factions and parties as intermediaries to get state goods, such as water, building materi…
Turismo y pobreza en la ciudad
Touring Poverty nos habla de una práctica cada vez más frecuente y controversial: la inclusión de cierto tipo de pobreza en el circuito del turismo internacional. Analiza la transformación de barrios populares del Sur global de invisibles a presentes en guías turísticas, de olvidados a vistos como exóticos, auténticos, y como parte de los monumentos y lugares que deben \nser visitados para conocer una ciudad, o, aún más, como íconos de esa ciudad…
Beautifying the Slum: Cable Car Fetishism in Cazucá, Colombia
The installation of cable cars as part of slum beautification projects has begun to circulate among politicians, planners and residents as a magical solution that offers social and economic integration to historically marginalized urban areas. This paper analyzes the way in which a cable car project became a fetish for the inhabitants, politicians and planners ofCazucá, a very deprived, abandoned and stigmatized area on the outskirts ofBogotá,Col…
An Interview with Göran Therborn
María José Álvarez (MJA): What are we talking about when we talk about inequality? What is your definition of inequality? Göran Therborn (GT): Inequality is a historical social construction which allocates the possibilities of realizing human capacity unequally. It is a historical social construction; it is not something which is given by nature or by God. There are differences which are given, but the important thing about inequality is the uneq…
Mesa redonda: La sociología en Colombia, tres miradas, tres historias, múltiples retos. Entrevista a Luis Gabriela Arango, Fernando Cubides y Francisco Leal
The Weakness Of Symbolic Boundaries: Handling Exclusion Among Montevideo's Squatters
This article argues that material conditions limit the possibilities of symbolic boundaries becoming markers of social differentiation, especially among stigmatized groups. Using squatter settlements in Montevideo, Uruguay, as a case study, it shows that symbolic boundaries are hard to maintain when material conditions and the stigmas associated with certain places work against them. Based on participant observation and oral histories, it analyse…
"Los becados con los becados y los ricos con los ricos"? Interacciones entre clases sociales distintas en una universidad de elite
Qué sucede cuando los desiguales se juntan? En este artículo se analiza la interacción entre clases sociales altas y bajas en una universidad en Colombia, uno de los países más inequitativos y fragmentados del mundo, a partir de un programa estatal de becas. Con base en entrevistas a profundidad, observación etnográfica y grupos focales, se encuentra que el programa provee oportunidades inéditas para que los jóvenes de sectores populares interact…
Good will hunting: Social Integration of Students Receiving Forgivable Loans for College Education in Contexts of High Inequality
This article explores the black box of college adaptation and social integration of low SES students entering higher education under a forgivable loans program. It does so by studying a context of extreme educational and economic inequality. The magnitude of this study offers an unprecedented window to observe interactions between different social classes in college. Drawing on two different fieldworks, this study is based on 19 focal groups in 8…
The Normalization of Bogota Social Housing Residents: Class Tensions in Third World Urban Peripheries
Strangers with different economic needs come to live together in social housing projects, posing an organizational challenge. In most current Latin American cities, this tends to be in standardized complexes with small apartments in segregated peripheries. Many residents change from living in informal neighborhoods to a different type of urban citizenship based on partially subsidized home ownership, which they experience as social mobility. Othe…
College integration and social class
Decisiones educativas y prácticas de reproducción de clase en sectores medios-altos en Montevideo
This article analyzes the educational decisions of the Montevideo upper middle classes and their significance as practices of reproduction and class distinction. Based on a time series of household surveys and the qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with university professionals, the article investigates how the upper middle classes choose the education of their children. To do this, it identifies and describes several different profiles:…
La ilusión de una región de clases medias: El caso de Uruguay
The expansion of middle-income sectors has, in recent years, drawn the attention of academia, international organizations, and governments. However, more recently, several studies have pointed to the vulnerability of these sectors. Based on household surveys, this paper analyzes the evolution of the middle classes in Uruguay in recent decades (1993-2016) using two complementary measures: one based on income and the other on occupation. The result…
The relational costs of crossing class lines
How do low socioeconomic status students navigate cross-class interactions in extremely unequal contexts? Previous research has described the high costs of college integration for underprivileged students, which in turn, negatively impact academic performance and general wellbeing. These studies tend to concentrate on cultural capital costs, such as catching up with assumed middle-class or elite capital and dealing with two worlds. Less has been …
Making the state care: The role of political willingness and brokerage in Bogota’s new feminist care policy
This article examines the crucial role of political willingness and brokerage in the implementation of Bogotá's new feminist care policy, the ‘System of Care', which aims to address gender and class inequalities and alleviate care burdens on women. Through a combination of ethnographic data and stakeholder interviews, we analyze the intricate political and social processes that underpin the policy's effectiveness. Drawing on academic literature a…
Urban Care for Unpaid Caregivers: Community Voices in the Care Block Program, in Bogotá, Colombia
The Care Block of Bogotá, Colombia, is an urban program that offers services for low-income unpaid caregivers. This study aimed to (i) characterize unpaid caregivers' subjective well-being, mental health symptoms, physical activity levels, and use of public spaces linked to the Care Block; (ii) identify caregivers' perceived built and social environment facilitators and barriers to accessing the Care Block facility; and (iii) document the communi…
The elephant in the (class) room: Cultural capital as personal differences and college segregation
This article presents findings from two projects that explore the experiences of working-class students at elite colleges. The first project is a national study that included 19 focus groups with 183 participants in a forgivable loan program and additional interviews and focus groups with non-scholarship students, professors, and administrators. The second project is an in-depth ethnographic study that included 61 interviews with recipients of th…
Spatial segregation patterns and association with built environment features in Colombian cities
Spatial segregation is a pressing issue in Latin American cities due to high urbanization, population density, and inequalities. This study examines segregation patterns in 84 middle to large cities in Colombia and their relationship with the spatial configuration of cities using satellite data. The analysis focuses on evenness and isolation metrics of segregation for ethnicity, education level, and employment status. The findings reveal higher s…
Los beneficiarios de ser pilo paga en el mercado laboral: Experiencias de movilidad social, incertidumbre y recursividad
Logra la educación superior de alta calidad nivelar las desigualdades de base que existen entre estudiantes de distintos orígenes socioeconómicos? En este artículo comparamos la inserción al mercado laboral de los beneficiarios del programa Ser Pilo Paga y sus compañeros de clase alta que se graduaron en Derecho e Ingeniería de Sistemas de una universidad de élite. Los resultados muestran que los ‘pilos’ han experimentado un grado importante de m…
Cross-class interactions and subjective inequality: Perceptions, beliefs and distributive preferences at a Colombian elite university
This study examines how cross-class interactions influence perceptions and beliefs of inequality, and distributive preferences. It is based on the implementation of Ser Pilo Paga , a government program that granted access to high-quality higher education for low-income students in Colombia. Drawing on 61 in-depth interviews and complementary survey data, we find that exposure to peers from different socioeconomic backgrounds recalibrates students…
The Power of Critical Engagement: What Does it Mean to do Critical Urban Scholarship from the South
In this essay I reflect upon the challenges of conducting critical urban research from the global South, where profound inequalities and limited resources shape our work and where, at the same time, academics are often called upon for help by communities, social movements and governments alike. Drawing from experiences during my research in Latin America, I explore the complexities of engaging with marginalized communities, whose aspirations some…
Relational Work and Policy Change: Feminizing the Local State from Within in Bogotá
In this article we argue that relational work between the state and civil society is crucial for social change, focusing on the relational work between activist bureaucrats and citizen representatives in the development of Bogotá’s gender and care policies. While existing literature shows that social movement embeddedness within the state helps explain why some governments achieve more egalitarian outcomes, this structural concept lacks micro-lev…
Political science (15 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Economics (10 works) · Economic growth (9 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Art (7 works) · Humanities (7 works) · Politics (7 works) · Social science (7 works) · Geography (6 works)