Luiz Vilaça

Cohort

2017

Subfields

Political Sociology, Social Movements, Sociology of Development

Profile

Luiz Vilaça is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology and a Kellogg Ph.D. Fellow at the University of Notre Dame. His research cuts across the Sociology of Law, Organizations, and Politics. His mixed-methods dissertation examines the causes of anti-corruption prosecutions, drawing on an analysis of Operation Car Wash, a series of prosecutions that resulted in the conviction of hundreds of business executives and politicians in Brazil.

Luiz uses the case of Car Wash to examine broader questions of how state organizations work effectively in challenging environments, the effects of social movement mobilization on judicial decisions, and how framing affects the credibility of judicial actors and public attitudes toward social problems. See more here.

Dissertation

Title: "Beyond Elites and Movements: Investigative Bureaucracies and Anti-Corruption Reform in Brazil"
Committee: Erin McDonnell (co-chair), Ann Mische (co-chair), Rory McVeigh, Aníbal Pérez-Liñan
Abstract