I’m broadly interested in how regions, both urban and rural, recover from economic restructuring. This interest is informed through my service work in distressed neighborhoods in Philadelphia and attending college in Ohio and witnessing countless deindustrialized cities and towns. I’ve pursued this research through several internships and research projects.
I have an ongoing research project compare how cities/regions in the United States and Germany have revitalized their economies since deindustrialization. I focus on these two countries because both have highly-developed economies, experienced deindustrialization towards the end of the 20th century, and are the archetypes of distinct political economies that are well-grounded in the theoretical literature. So far, I have focused on two historical coal and steel regions, Pittsburgh and the Ruhr, and their differing approaches to successfully reinvent their economies. I am planning on expanding the project to include Cleveland and the Saarland which historically also had industrial economies based on coal and steel, but have had less successful transitions. This sub- and cross-national comparison will illustrate what latitude and strategies Western regions have to reinvent their economies in the face of overwhelming global economic headwinds.
