Fernando Tormos-Aponte is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh and a Kendall Fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Purdue University and a BA from the Universidad de Puerto Rico—Río Piedras. Dr. Tormos-Aponte specializes in environmental and racial justice, intersectional solidarity, identity politics, social policy, and transnational politics. Dr. Tormos-Aponte’s research on social movements focuses on how social movements cope with internal divisions and gain political influence. Tormos-Aponte also investigates civil society claims about the uneven government response across communities. His work in this area examines the causes and consequences of government neglect of socially vulnerable communities during disaster recoveries.
Education & Training
- PhD, Purdue University, 2017
Representative Publications
“The Influence of Marginalized Groups in Global Climate Governance.” Current Opinions in Environmental Sustainability 52C: 125–131, 2021.
Fernando Tormos-Aponte, Gustavo García-López, Mary Angelica Painter. 2021. “Energy inequality and clientelism in the wake of disasters: From colorblind to affirmative power restoration.” Energy Policy. Volume 158.
Kamil M. Gerónimo López and Fernando Tormos-Aponte. “Critical thinking and embodied learning for a Puerto Rican student movement pedagogy.” New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. Volume 2021, Issue 171-172, pp. 55-67.
Fernando Tormos-Aponte, James E. Wright II, and Heath Brown. “Implementation Has Failed, Implementation Studies Have Failed Even More: Racism and the Future of Systemic Change.” Social Science Quarterly, Volume 102, Issue 7, 2021, pp. 3087-3094.
Rachel L. Einwohner, Kaitlin Kelly-Thompson, Valeria Sinclair-Chapman, Fernando Tormos- Aponte, S. Laurel Weldon, Jared M. Wright, and Charles Wu (authors listed in alphabetical order). “Active Solidarity: Intersectional Solidarity in Action.” Oxford Academic: Social Politics. Volume 28, Issue 3, 2021.
“An Organizing Approach to Diversifying Political Science” PS: Political Science and Politics. Volume 54, Issue 1, 2021, pp. 163-168.
Research Interests
Social Movements
Identity Politics
Transnational Politics
Intersectionality
Social Justice
Disasters
Race Relations
Environmental Politics
