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Political Science

D-Index
29
Citations
3650
World Ranking
1288
National Ranking
646

Overview

Diane E. Davis is affiliated with Harvard University in the United States and has contributed to the field of social sciences, with a specific focus on sociology, political science, and urban studies. Their research engages extensively with topics such as crime, illicit activities, governance, and urban development.

Their published works include studies on sovereignty, urban violence, and governance in Latin America, as well as analyses of organized crime and social housing policies. Notable recent papers by Diane E. Davis include:

  • City, Nation, Network: Shifting Territorialities of Sovereignty and Urban Violence in Latin America, 2020, Urban Planning
  • The Pandemic and Organized Crime in Urban Latin America: New Sovereignty Arrangements or Business as Usual?, 2022, Journal of Illicit Economies and Development
  • Deconstructing sovereignty: (non-)life, territorial power and the everyday ecologies of hybrid governance, 2025, Territory Politics Governance

Davis frequently collaborates with other scholars, with known co-authors including Nanke Verloo, Tina Hilgers, Frank Müller, Maria Atuesta, and Nora Libertun de Durén.

The scholar's work commonly appears in journals such as Urban Planning, Built Environment, Journal of Illicit Economies and Development, Territory Politics Governance, and Planning Theory & Practice.

Main fields of study center on social sciences, particularly through the lens of sociology and political science. Subfields additionally cover political science and international relations, general health professions, epidemiology, and urban studies.

Davis's research addresses several important topics within urban and social contexts, including:

  • Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance
  • Crime Patterns and Interventions
  • Homelessness and Social Issues
  • Politics and Society in Latin America
  • HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk
  • Peacebuilding and International Security
  • Urban and Rural Development Challenges

Best Publications

  • Urban Leviathan: Mexico City in the Twentieth Century

    Diane E. Davis

  • Undermining the Rule of Law: Democratization and the Dark Side of Police Reform in Mexico

    Diane E. Davis

  • Non-State Armed Actors, New Imagined Communities, and Shifting Patterns of Sovereignty and Insecurity in the Modern World

    Diane E. Davis

  • The power of distance: Re-theorizing social movements in Latin America

    Diane E. Davis

  • Irregular Armed Forces and their Role in Politics and State Formation

    Diane E. Davis;Anthony W. Pereira

  • Irregular armed forces, shifting patterns of commitment, and fragmented sovereignty in the developing world

    Diane E. Davis

  • Discipline and Development: Middle Classes and Prosperity in East Asia and Latin America

    Diane E. Davis

  • Cities in Global Context: A Brief Intellectual History

    Diane E. Davis

  • El leviatán urbano : la ciudad de México en el siglo XX

    Diane E. Davis

  • Cities and Sovereignty: Identity Politics in Urban Spaces

    Diane E. Davis;Nora Libertun de Duren

  • Zero-Tolerance Policing, Stealth Real Estate Development, and the Transformation of Public Space Evidence from Mexico City

    Diane E. Davis

  • POLICING, REGIME CHANGE AND DEMOCRACY: REFLECTIONS FROM THE CASE OF MEXICO

    Unknown

  • The Age of Insecurity: Violence and Social Disorder in the New Latin America

    Diane E. Davis

  • Introduction: New Patterns of Militarized Violence and Coercion in the Americas

    Anthony W. Pereira;Diane E. Davis

  • The Political and Economic Origins of Violence and Insecurity in Contemporary Latin America: Past Trajectories and Future Prospects

    Diane E. Davis

  • Reverberations: Mexico City’s 1985 Earthquake and the Transformation of the Capital

    Diane E. Davis

  • Irregular Armed Forces and Their Role in Politics and State Formation: Deconstructing Armed Forces

    Diane E. Davis;Anthony W. Pereira

  • Introduction: A processual approach to informalization:

    Julie-Anne Boudreau;Diane E Davis

  • The Public Accountability of Private Police: Lessons from New York, Johannesburg, and Mexico City

    Robert C. Davis;Christopher W. Ortiz;Sarah Dadush;Jenny Irish

  • Planning, Politics, and Urban Mega-Projects in Developmental Context: Lessons from Mexico City’s Airport Controversy

    Onesimo Flores Dewey;Diane E. Davis

  • Informality and state theory: Some concluding remarks

    Diane E Davis

  • El factor Giuliani: delincuencia, la "cero tolerancia" en el trabajo policiaco y la transformación de la esfera pública en el centro de la ciudad de México

    Diane E. Davis

  • Reputational Standing in Academe

    Diane E. Davis;Helen S. Astin

  • New Patterns of Militarized Violence and Coercion in the Americas

    Anthony W. Pereira;Diane E. Davis

  • Managing Mexico: Economists from Nationalism to Neoliberalismby Sarah Babb

    Diane E. Davis

Frequent Co-Authors

Robert C. Davis
Robert C. Davis Police Foundation
Barry D. Adam
Barry D. Adam University of Windsor

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