Sociology Ph.D. Student Examines Why Workers Protest in El Salvador

UC Merced Sociology graduate student Luis Rubén González Márquez has a new first-authored article titled “The Glocal Foundations of Threat-Driven Labor Resistance to Authoritarian Capitalism,” published by UC Press in the Sociology of Development journal with his advisor, Professor Paul Almeida.

González Márquez said this publication carries deep significance for him.

“This article has a special meaning to me,” the Salvadoran native said. “Constructing the dataset was an emotionally intense experience: I had to examine information about atrocious human rights violations and the bravery of organized workers confronting the horror, all while the world was in chaos because of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

González Márquez received a Fulbright Latin American Scholarship Program of American Universities scholarship to begin his graduate studies at UC Merced in 2019. He also received a Dissertation Improvement Award Grant from the American Sociological Association and the National Science Foundation, and a Dissertation Fellowship from the Institute of Global Conflict and Cooperation at the University of California, both in 2023.

The sixth-year Ph.D. candidate will participate in commencement in May.