Rachel Tan

Rachel (she/her) is a PhD Student in Political Science who works at the intersection of environment x tech(ology)(nocracy) x labor politics. She studies the global political economy of technological solutions such as AI, ‘eco-cities’, and our renewable energy transition. For her dissertation, she will conduct multi-sited fieldwork in Monterrey & Oaxaca (Mexico), Detroit and Laredo (USA), and possibly sites in China or Brazil to investigate how technological and infrastructural solutions of our planetary transition are shaping the lives of workers, migrants, and Indigenous peoples. Ultimately, she hopes to research and advocate for a just planetary transition that guarantees transient and platform workers’ protections, democratize control over energy and AI systems and resources, and transform economic and political processes to prioritize redistribution and community access.

Rachel approaches her work through critical qualitative methods such as relational & global ethnography, community engagement and participatory methods, storytelling, archives, and oral histories. The Scott Kloeck-Jenson Fellowship provides her with support to conduct multi-sited fieldwork. She is also deeply invested in interdisciplinary teaching, collaborating with students, learning and practicing critical and creative forms of pedagogy, and in designing courses that situate the local within global processes.