Rebecca Galemba

Associate Professor

Faculty
Josef Korbel School of International Studies
Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Study of (in)Equality
Center for Immigration Policy & Research (CIPR)

rebecca.galemba@du.edu

303-871-3591 (Office)

https://dujustwagesproject.wordpress.com/

Personal

SIE Complex, 2201 S. Gaylord St. Denver, CO 80208

What I do

Through research, teaching, and community-engaged work, I draw on interdisciplinary approaches to enhance the public good and contribute to studies of social inequality in Latin America and the US. I engage students directly in research inside and outside of the classroom to prepare students to become active, critical, and reflective agents of social change around the world.

Professional Biography

I am an anthropologist who studies the intersections of globalization, illicit markets, migration, security, and labor in Mexico, Central America, and the U.S.
I teach graduate and undergraduate courses on Qualitative Research Methodologies, Cultures of Development, Migration, and Illicit Markets.

Degree(s)

Ph.D., Anthropology, Brown University, 2009
MA, Anthropology, Brown University, 2005
BA, Latin America, Latino, and Caribbean Studies, Dartmouth College, 2003

Professional Affiliations

American Anthropological Association
Latin American Studies Association
International Studies Association
Guatemala Scholars Network
Society for Applied Anthropology
Society for Economic Anthropology

Media Sources

Research

My first book, Contraband Corridor: Making a Living at the Mexico-Guatemala Border (Stanford Press 2017) examines how free trade and border security policies constrain and criminalize local livelihoods, as well as how ordinary people transform relations between borders, the state, and transnational commerce.
My second book, Laboring for Justice: The Fight Against Wage Theft in an American City (Stanford Press 2023) depicts an ongoing community-engaged project to document and address wage theft and advance immigrant and workers' rights through research, policy advocacy, and activism alongside workers, students, and community partners. Nearly 100 students have worked on the project since 2013. You can learn about the project and students' collaborations on the DU Just Wages site: https://dujustwagesproject.wordpress.com/
For my work on the DU Just Wages project, I received the 2018 Public Good Faculty of the Year award from the University of Denver. For the DU Just Wages Project, I was also awarded the 2022 Setha M. Low Award for Engaged Anthropology from the American Anthropological Association and the 2023 Kate Browne Creativity in Research Award from the Society for Economic Anthropology. My book was also awarded the 2023 Society for the Anthropology of Work Book Prize.

At DU, I also co-direct the new Center for Immigration Policy & Research,

Areas of Research

Ethnicity

nationalism

Featured Publications

Galemba, R. (2017). Contraband Corridor: Making a Living at the Mexico-Guatemala Border. Palo Alto, CA, United States: Stanford University Press. Retrieved from https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=26603

Galemba, R. (2018). 'He Used to Be a Pollero': The Securitisation of Migration and the Smuggler/Migrant Nexus at the Mexico-Guatemala border. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 44(5), 870-886. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2017.1327803

Galemba, R. (2023). Laboring for Justice: The Fight Against Wage Theft in an American City. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. Retrieved from https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=32824

Galemba, R. (2021). 'They Steal Our Work': Wage Theft and the Criminalization of Immigrant Day Laborers in Colorado, USA. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 27, 91-112. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/S10610-020-09474-Z

Galemba, R., & Kuhn, R. (2021). 'No Place for Old Men': Immigrant Duration, Wage Theft, and Economic Mobility Among Day Laborers in Denver, Colorado. International Migration Review, 55(4), 1201-1230. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/01979183211001370

Galemba, R. (2019). Adding Troops at Mexico's Border with Guatemala Won't Block Migrants from Coming to the U.S. Here's why. Monkey Cage, Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/19/adding-troops-mexicos-border-with-guatemala-wont-block-migrants-coming-us-heres-why/

Galemba, R. (2021). Biden's Immigration Plan Should Do More to Protect Workers. Retrieved from https://www.law360.com/articles/1354128/biden-s-immigration-plan-should-do-more-to-protect-workers

Galemba, R., Vogel, A., & Missbach, A. (2021). A Comparison of Border Controls in Transit Countries: Implications for Migrant Smuggling. Forum on Crime and Society, 10(1-2), 51-84. Retrieved from https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/bulletin/2021/V2102426.pdf

Galemba, R., Dingeman, K., & Devries, K. (2021). Gateway to the North? Contingent Journeys at the Mexico-Guatemala Border. Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology, 26(1), 25-45. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1111/jlca.12511

Galemba, R., Dingeman, K., DeVries, K., & Servin, Y. (2019). Paradoxes of Protection: Compassionate Repression at the Mexico-Guatemala Border. Journal on Migration and Human Security, 7(3), 62-78. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/2331502419862239

Performances

Galemba, R., & Bleifuss-Prados, D. (2023). Laboring for Justice Art Exhibit. DU Museum of Anthropology, Denver, Colorado.

Presentations

Galemba, R. (2022). Roundtable panelist: Unsettling Good Intentions. American Anthropological Association . American Anthropological Association Meeting. Seattle, WA: American Anthropological Association .

Galemba, R., Garcia, B., Lyles, E., Newell, K., & Creal, D. Z. (2023). "The Dedicated Docket as Legal Impossibility: Reflections from Courtwatch on Denver's Dedicated Docket." . Society for Applied Anthropology Meeting. Cincinnati, Ohio: Society for Applied Anthropology .

Galemba, R. (2022). Should I Stay or Should I Go?. Invited visiting professor lecture at EHESS Paris. Paris, France: EHESS Paris.

Galemba, R. (2019). Contraband Corridor: Making a Living at the Mexico-Guatemala Border. Grupo Binacional de Estudios de la Frontera Mexico-Guatemala. San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico: CIESAS Sureste, CIMSUR UNAM, CEPHIS-UNAM, and USAC y Rafael Landívar Universities.

Galemba, R. (2022). Ethical Considerations for Conducting Research with Communities Affected by Displacement. . International Studies Association. virtual: International Studies Association.

Awards

Public Good Faculty of the Year Award, CCESL and Pioneer Awards
Kate Browne Creativity in Research Award, Society for Economic Anthropology
Setha M. Low Engaged Anthropology Award, American Anthropological Association
Knowledge Bridge Grant, University of Denver