Daniel Esser, associate professor at American University's School of International Service, will deliver a research talk on "Rights, Resilience and Transformation: Responding to Global Change in Contested Cities."
Esser's current research investigates social foundations of political legitimacy in non-democratic settings, with a geographic focus on urban areas in the global South. This new line of inquiry builds on earlier work on urban governance and development effectiveness amid armed conflict. He has conducted field research in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sierra Leone and Mexico and has traveled widely in Asia and Latin America. He has published in leading peer-reviewed journals such as World Development, Urban Studies, the Journal of Modern African Studies, the Journal of Social Policy, Environment and Urbanization, Global Public Health, Third World Quarterly, Ethics & International Affairs, Communication Theory, and the Journal of Business Ethics, as well as in several edited books.