PhD (Univ of Dublin, Trinity College Dublin), MPhil, BA
Professional Information & Research Interests
Professional Information
Dr. Astrid Vanessa Pérez Piñán was born and raised in Puerto Rico. She is an Assistant Professor at the School of Public Administration where she combines interdisciplinary research with feminist scholarship to critically explore the tensions between global development agendas and local realities, as well as the changing global development cooperation landscape, including recently adopted feminist policies. She is interested in the 'measurement turn' and indicators employed in global/local development. Astrid Vanessa studies the processes leading to the creation of existing and emerging diverse economies that counter the neoliberal economic (dis)order at the community level (including and not limited to Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities). Her other areas of research include: Politics and policies of Colonization and Decolonization/ Self Determination, Reproductive Justice/Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Food Sovereignty, and Global Sustainable Development.
At the School of Public Administration, Astrid Vanessa has been teaching graduate courses in Gender Mainstreaming, Citizen Participation and Democratic Governance, Analysis for the Public and Non-Profit Sectors; Research Methods in Community Development, and most recently, Public Financial Management and Accountability.
Astrid Vanessa has a PhD in Gender and International Development from the University of Dublin - Trinity College Dublin, an MPhil in International Peace Studies from the same institution, and a Bachelor’s degree in Modern Languages from the University of Puerto Rico. Her PhD thesis (2015) is entitled “Engendering Effectiveness: A Feminist Critique of the New Aid Architecture.”
Research Interests
Decolonial Feminism
Transnational and Indigenous Feminisms
Global Sustainable Development
Diverse Economies/Economic Development and Wellbeing
Colonization and Decolonization
Reproductive Justice
Food sovereignty
Global South/ Latin America, the Caribbean/ Puerto Rico, Africa
“The Balance Co-Lab: Collaboration for Sustainable Communities” (Co-Investigator with Thom, Puerta Silva, Tremblay, Kelly, Curran, Vibert, Mack, Ban, and Napoleon) Principal Investigator: Dr. Matt Murphy. Partnership Grant funded by SSHRC.
“Scholarship, Activism, Science and the Arts in Climate Justice for Planetary Health Governance” (Co- Investigator). Principal Investigator: Dr. Heather Castleden. Funded by SSHRC.
“The Right to Abortion Project: Coming Together to Improve Culturally Safe Abortion Care for Indigenous Women, Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ People in Canada” (Co-Principal Investigator with Dr. Renée Monchalin, funded by SSHRC) https://www.fireweedproject.ca/
“’It’s still very much swept under the rug….’ Sharing stories of Abortion Access Experiences among Indigenous People in Canada to improve the access gap” (Co-Investigator with Dr. Renée, Monchalin funded by the University of Victoria)
“Global Goal, local impact: Access to Abortion for Indigenous Women and Two-Spirit people” (Co-Investigator with Dr. Renée Monchalin, University of Victoria Collaborative Health Grant)
“Managing for Gender and Human Rights-Based Results in Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy” (Principal Investigator, funded by SSHRC).
“Four Stories of Food Sovereignty: Transnational crises and local action” (Co-investigator with Dr. Elizabeth Vibert, Dr. Matt Murphy, Dr. Claudia Puerta Silva, and Dr. Bikrum Gill, funded by SSHRC) https://www.fourstoriesaboutfood.org/.
“Bridging knowledge cultures: The knowledge for change global consortium on training and community-based participatory research” (Co-investigator, SSHRC)
Selected publications
Monchalin, R., Jubinville, D., Pérez Piñán, A. V., Paul, W., Wells, M., Ross, A., Law, K., Chaffey, M., & Pruder, H. (2023). “I would love for there not to be so many hoops … ”: recommendations to improve abortion service access and experiences made by Indigenous women and 2SLGTBQIA+ people in Canada. Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 31(1). DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2023.2247667
Monchalin, R., Pérez Piñán, A., Wells, M., Paul, W., Jubinville, D., Law, K., Chaffey, M., Pruder, H., Ross, A. (2023). A qualitative study exploring access barriers to abortion services among Indigenous Peoples in Canada. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2023.110056
Paul, W., Monchalin, R., Pérez Piñán, A., Wells, M. (2023). Global Goal, Local Impact: Access to Abortion for Indigenous Peoples in Canada (Community Report) https://www.fireweedproject.ca/resources
Murphy, M., Mack, J., Magzul, L., Pérez Piñán, A., Sayers (Kekinusuqs), J., Friedland, H. (in press). Place-Based Pursuit of Economic Self-Determination by the Toquaht Nation in Canada. In Slawinski, N., Lowery, B., Seto, A., Stoddart, M., & Vodden, K. (Eds) Revitalizing PLACE through Social Enterprise, In Press. St. John's: Memorial University Press.
Vibert, E., Singh Gill, B., Murphy, M., Pérez Piñán, A., & Puerta Silva, C. (2022). “Transformation or the next meal? : Global-local tensions in food justice work”, Canadian Food Studies / La Revue Canadienne Des études Sur l’alimentation, 9(2), 226–248. https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v9i2.531
Pérez Piñán, A., Friedland, H., Sayers (Kekinusuqs) J. & Murphy, M., (2021). “Reclaiming Indigenous Economic Development through Participatory Action Research”, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 23(1), 30-49 (Special issue: The epistemological break: Redefining Participatory Action Research in capabilitarian scholarship). https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2021.2009449
Pérez Piñán, A. (2020). “Global Development Agendas with Local Relevance: ‘Glocal’ approaches, tensions and lessons on measuring aid effectiveness”. In L. Levac and S. Wiebe (Eds), Creating Spaces for Engagement, Toronto: University of Toronto Press
Pérez Piñán, A. &Vibert, E. (2019). “The View from the Farm: Gendered contradictions in global goal-setting for sustainable food production”, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities (20)4, 436-450 https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2019.1659237
Pérez Piñán, A. (2015). “Gender-Responsive Approaches to Measuring Aid Effectiveness: Options and issues”, Social Politics, 22 (3), 432-455 https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxv020
