Luciana de Souza Leão

Luciana de Souza Leão is an Assistant Professor in the Sociology department. Before receiving her PhD from Columbia University, Luciana received a B.A. in Economics from Puc-Rio and a M.A. in Sociology and Anthropology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, where she studied different dynamics associated to racial and political inequalities in Brazil.

Luciana is a political and comparative sociologist with broad interests in knowledge-making processes, racial inequalities, and the state. She is currently working on a book project, Manufacturing Legitimacy: The Politics of Giving Money to the Poor in Brazil and Mexico (under contract with Princeton University Press) which examines how politics, measurement practices, and expertise shape anti-poverty programs in Brazil and Mexico.