Current Research
From 1994-1996 Dr. Stanford collaborated with Robert
Bolin on an NSF project examining local community organizations and
their strategies in recovery following the Northridge Earthquake.
This study, The Northridge Earthquake: Vulnerability and Disaster
(Routledge, 1998) addressed particularly the role of non-government
organizations working with Hispanic minorities in rural communities
in Southern California.
Current research projects focus on the impacts of
globalization and neoliberal economic policies on small farmers and
agricultural organizations, as well as their responses and efforts
to defend their interests in a globalized economy in Mexico and in
New Mexico. In 1998, as a Fulbright scholar, Dr. Stanford held a visiting
faculty position at the Facultad de Agrobiología, Universidad
de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, in Uruapan, Michoacán. During
this period, she conducted research on the history and social organization
of the avocado industry, examining the impacts of Mexican neoliberal
economic policies and export markets on this regional industry. She
has continued to return to conduct follow up research with entrepreneurs,
government leaders, and organization leaders. This research forms
part of binational research for a book on anthropological perspectives
on the globalization of the avocado industry, comparing the history
and organizational experiences between Mexico and California. Dr.
Stanford maintains collaborative relations with Mexican anthropologists
at El Colegio de Michoacán, in Zamora, Michoacán, and
the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología
Social (CIESAS-Occidente), in Guadalajara, Jalisco. She is currently
collaborating on an edited volume, Anthropological Perspectives on
Globalization: Examining Latin America’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable
Industry, with Dr. Humberto González, a Mexican anthropologist,
to be published in the United State and in Mexico.
In New Mexico, Dr. Stanford is engaged in applied
social research on government and non-governmental organizations working
with Hispanic farmers in the state. Her efforts are part of a 4 year
project, The Center for Minority Land and Community Security funded
through the USDA/Fund for Rural America and coordinated with colleagues
at the Land Tenure Center (U. of Wisconsin) and Tuskegee University.
Housed at Tuskegee, the proposed center addresses the critical problem
of disproportionate land loss by three rural minority groups (African
Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Native Americans). Under the direction
of Dr. Stanford, the New Mexico component includes local projects
within the three identified programs of land tenure, sustainability
issues and rural community preservation, as well as developing greater
institutional linkages between regional farmer organizations and the
centers at U. Wisconsin and Tuskegee University. Lois Stanford will
interview leaders and directors of existing entrepreneurship, farm,
and rural business development programs among Hispanic communities
in order to collect and analyze data from organizations that provide
business and resource management assistance to rural enterprises.
The goal is to develop a network and directory for potential, creative,
and viable technical assistance programs in New Mexico.
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