Alexandra Moffett-Bateau

Alexandra Moffett-Bateau holds a Ph.D in Political Science from the University of Chicago, and BA in Political Science and African American Studies from the University of Michigan- Ann Arbor. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Political Science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice- City University of New York. Alexandra’s intellectual work focuses on race, gender & politics, urban politics and political behavior, with broad specialties in American Politics and Political Theory.

Her manuscript in progress examines the impact spatial and aesthetic realities in residential neighborhoods have on political engagement and political identity development. Alexandra’s research agenda is centrally concerned with the external forces that shape individual political capacity. Specifically, she is invested in thinking about how the intersections of race, class and gender can make populations especially vulnerable to the spaces they live in, the conditions within which they work and the actions of local government actors in their neighborhoods and cities. The sum total of Alexandra’s work argues that spatial and governmental realities can have a significant impact on the extent to which an individual can imagine political possibilities for herself or others. Environments that are violent, isolated and toxic, all function to limit the citizenship development of citizens in a way that is troubling to the functioning of democracy in the United States.

As she argues in the manuscript, some of these factors can be mitigated by interpersonal relationships within neighborhoods that offer support, protection and political education opportunities (Sinclair 2012, Dawson 1993). However, in the last decade, where mass demolitions of public housing developments are becoming increasingly frequent all over the country, more low-income citizens are finding themselves in unfamiliar and remote neighborhoods with little access to their friends or family. Politically, not only does this mean that voting blocks, which have been in place since the 1960’s no longer exist, it also means that grassroots organizations and extra-systemic community support have also been dismantled. Functionally, this can work to de-mobilize an entire generation of citizens who now have to work twice as hard to get daily needs met, let alone think about political engagement (click here for more information about my manuscript in progress).

The sum total of her research agenda argues that spatial and governmental realities can have a significant impact on the extent to which an individual can imagine political possibilities for herself or others. Environments that are violent, isolated and toxic, all function to limit the citizenship development of citizens in a way that is troubling to the functioning of democracy in the United States. As my research agenda continues to make clear, local and state policy play a critical role in the development of political identity.