His current book project, State Deformations: Culture and the Politics of Life in El Salvador, traces the practices of peoplehood, community formation, and everyday life-making amongst marginalized groups in El Salvador since the end of the Salvadoran Civil War. A multi-sited study, his research examines the cultural and political strategies employed by Salvadorans that, despite living in conditions of extreme marginality and routine violence, refuse the imperative to migrate to destinations in the U.S. and elsewhere. This work contributes an important perspective to current analyses of contemporary Central America by attending to in-country mobilities and local efforts that seek to make life in conditions characterized by overwhelming social fragmentation. 

He is currently appointed Mellon Faculty Fellow in Latin American, Latino & Caribbean Studies where he will transition to Assistant Professor in 2021.