Profile

I joined the Department of Sociology as an Assistant Professor in December 2023. Previously, I was a Democracy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. I hold a DPhil (PhD) in Sociology and an MSc in Latin American Studies from the University of Oxford and a BA in History (Modern Latin America) from Princeton University.

Research Interests

I am a political sociologist interested in the intersection of armed conflict, social movements, participatory democracy, and environmental sociology with a primary regional focus on Latin America. My current book project investigates how the legacies of armed conflict influence how environmental movements contest the development of large-scale extractive (mining and oil) projects in Colombia. I am also interested in topics related to environmental conflict and peacebuilding, state repression, business and human rights, and transitional justice. I employ a multi-method approach to research, combining quantitative analysis with extensive field research.

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Shenk, J. (2022) “Does conflict experience affect participatory democracy after war? Evidence from Colombia.” Journal of Peace Research.

Shenk, J. (October 2022) “Consultations and Competing Claims: Implementing Participatory Institutions in Colombia’s Extractive Industries.” Comparative Politics. https://doi.org/10.5129/001041522X16358097946287.

Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters

Shenk, J. (2022) “Extractive Projects and Participatory Democracy: Lessons from the Consulta Popular” in Gobernanza ambiental para la paz en Colombia, eds. Ángela María Amaya Arias, Kristine Perry, and Erika Weinthal. Bogotá D.C.: Universidad Externado de Colombia, the Environmental Law Institute, and Duke University Press.

Shenk, J. (2023) “Colombia: Progressive Extractivism and Contradictions in Territorial Peace” in Extractive Bargains and the State-Society Nexus, eds Paul Bowless and Nathan Andrews. Springer Nature.

Working Papers

“Silent Signaling: Norm Diffusion and LGBTI Norms in Transitional Justice” with Jessica Anania (University of Oxford).

“Accidental gatekeepers: NGOs and post-conflict participatory democracy”

"Pacts and protest: State-business contracts and environmental conflict in Colombia” with Shauna Gillooly (Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Santiago de Chile)

“Participatory Democracy from Below: Applying Archimedes’ Lever”