Ph.D. Candidates Marco M. Aviña and Julio S. Solís Arce have received the APSA Advancing Research Grants for Indigenous Politics.
The grants are awarded to scholars dedicated to advancing understanding in Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Political Science, Sovereignty, Tribal Governance, and Native Studies, with grants ranging from $2,000 to $2,500. These funds will support diverse research initiatives, including data access, fieldwork, and skill development.
Marco M. Aviña
Marco, a graduate student and James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Ph.D. Scholar in Inequality and Wealth Concentration at Harvard Kennedy School, specializes in racial and ethnic politics, public opinion, and political behavior. His dissertation focuses on intergroup relations in American cities amidst the migrant crisis, particularly examining the impact of financial hardship on asylum-seeker acceptance. Marco’s extensive publication record covers economic policy, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Canadian politics.
He said: “As a Canadian, I have long been interested in the process of reconciliation, which involves raising awareness about settler colonialism and its ongoing effects on Indigenous peoples. However, very little research has been done on how this process might (or might not) work at the mass level, given prevalent misinformation and anti-Indigenous resentment among the Canadian population.
“A central piece of my research agenda is whether or not people may shift their views in response to new information. We know from past work on political persuasion that changing minds can be hard, especially for issues that arouse strong, polarized reactions.”
With the newly awarded funds, Marco plans to conduct focus groups to gain qualitative insights on reconciliation interventions, enhancing his interdisciplinary study on prejudice reduction and political persuasion alongside two victimologists from l’Université de Montréal.
He added: “This has been one of the most intellectually stimulating projects I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to. It is an interdisciplinary project addressing a question of broad social science significance. The project integrates political science’s perspectives on prejudice reduction and political persuasion with victimology’s understanding of reconciliation processes and reparative justice. While my insights as an experimentalist were central to the first phase, my co-authors’ qualitative expertise will be pivotal in this second phase.”
Julio S. Solís Arce
Julio studies the political economy of development, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. His research focuses on social institutions and norms and their relationship with political inequality.
“Significant variations in the social and political lives of societies worldwide, both past and present – including so-called indigenous societies are often overlooked,” said Julio. “Examining these cases is not only intrinsically valuable but also enriches and tests well-established theories, deepening our understanding of our ‘own’ political behavior and institutions.
“In my research, I explore how different societies understand state-level politics based on their experiences with their own traditional institutions. The idea is that societies develop distinct forms of political organization—such as a chief, a council of elders, or a village-level assembly—sustained by their own normative order or notion of legitimacy. When external political institutions, particularly majoritarian democracy, are imposed, societies may respond in unexpected ways, either in conflict with or complementary to electoral democracy.
“I investigate these dynamics through the case of Botswana, where the village-level political system is based on an assembly known as the kgotla, which makes decisions by consensus. My research combines methods from experimental economics and ethnographic observation.”
Julio will utilize the APSA grant by partially funding the fieldwork and data collection for his research.
Congratulations to Marco and Julio on their achievement. Their groundbreaking research will undoubtedly contribute valuable insights to Indigenous politics and governance studies worldwide.