Dr. Sebastian Sclofsky

PhD in Political Science

• University of Florida (2018)

M.A. in Political Science

• University of Florida (2014)
• Hebrew University in Jerusalem (2010)

Certificate in Latin American Studies

• University of Florida (2018)

B.A in International Relations and Communications

• Hebrew University in Jerusalem (2006)

Law School

• Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay (1998-2001).

California State University, Stanislaus, Department of Criminal Justice
2018 - present

• Advanced Criminology Theories
• Emergent Issues in Criminal Justice
• Interrogating Criminal Justice Theory
• Race and Criminal Justice
• Community Policing
• Leadership in Law Enforcement
• Administration in Law Enforcement
• Introduction to Criminal Justice
• Causes of Crime
• Police Violence
• Research Methods
• High Impact Practices in an Online World, taught with Dr. Betsy Eudey (for faculty, sponsored by Stan State Faculty Development Center).

University of Florida, Department of Political Science
2011-2018:

Instructor on Record for the following courses:

• Introduction to Latin American Politics and Society
• Law and Society
• Introduction to Political and Social Theory.
• African American Thinkers: From W.E.B. Du Bois to Black Lives Matter.

Teaching Assistant for the following courses:

• What is the Good Life, for Dr. Andrew Wolpert.
• Introduction to Comparative Politics (online); for Dr. Patricia Woods.
• Introduction to Comparative Politics; for Prof. Michael Bernhard.
• Introduction to Comparative Politics; for Dr. Dietmar Schirmer.
• Introduction to Comparative Politics; with Prof. Leslie E. Anderson.

Tutor, Athlete Students:

• Introduction to International Relations 

Sclofsky, Sebastián. Black, Poor and from the Periphery: Experiencing Police Violence in São Paulo and Los Angeles. New York: New York University Press. (Forthcoming).

Gascón, Daniel, Sebastián Sclofsky, Analicia Mejía, Xavier Perez, Jhon Sanabria (eds). Policing and State Crime in the Americas: Postcolonial and Southern Criminilogical Perspectives. London: Palgrave Macmillan (Forthcoming).

Sclofsky, Sebastián. (2021). “Broken Windows in the Río de la Plata: Constructing the Disorderly Other.” Criminological Encounters, 4(1), 31-49.

Funk, K & Sclofsky, S. (2021). “The Liberal Ideology: On Intellectual Pluralism and the Marginalization of Marxism in U.S. Political Science,” PS: Political Science & Politics 54(3), pp. 593-597.

Sclofsky, Sebastián (2018). “In Search for Peace: A New Approach to the Study of Violence in Latin America.” International Studies Review 20(1), pp. 170-172.

Sclofsky, S. & Funk, K (2018). “The Specter that Haunts Political Science: A Ruthless Criticism of Neglect and Misreadings of Marx in International Relations and Comparative Politics,” International Studies Perspectives 19(1), pp. 83-101.

Sclofsky, Sebastián (2016). “Policing Race in Two Cities: From Necropolitical Governance to Imagined Communities,” Journal of Social Justice 6.

Sclofsky, Sebastián (2021). “Police Violence in São Paulo: Between the Asphalt and the Hill,” in Shauhin Talesh, Heinz Klug, and Elizabeth Mertz (eds.) The Research Handbook on Modern Legal Realism, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 100-111.

Sclofsky, Sebastián. (2020). “’Our North is the South’: Lessons from Police-Community Encounters in São Paulo and Los Angeles,” in Rita Shah & Kate Henne (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Public Criminologies.

Sclofsky, S. & Funk, K. (2019). "The Specter that Haunts Political Science: The Neglect and Misreading of Marx in International Relations and Comparative Politics," in Sculos, B.W. & Caputi, M (eds.) Teaching Marx & Critical Theory in the 21st Century. Boston, MA: Brill Publishers. Pp. 15-47.

Sclofsky, Sebastián. (2020). “Tough on Crime: The Rise of Punitive Populism in Latin America. By Michelle D. Bonner. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019. 208p. $40 hardcover,” Perspective of Politics 18(1), pp. 299-301.

• Higher-Ed Teaching Certificate, The Association of College and University Educators, 2019-2020.
• Certificate in Inclusive Teaching, CSU Faculty Development Center, 2019.
• Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse – Summer 2014.
• Law & Society Graduate Student Workshop – New Orleans, LA, May-June 2016.
• Law & Society Graduate Student Activity – Mexico City, Mexico, June 2017.

State Violence, Social Inequalities, Class and Race, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Police Violence, Law and Society, Urban Politics, Latin American and US Politics, Marxism.

• Conducted interviews and archival work on Uruguay security policies (2020-2021).
• Conducted fieldwork research in São Paulo, Brazil (2014-2015).
• Research Assistant for Dr. Leslie Anderson, University of Florida (2013-2014).
• Research Assistant for Dr. Menachem Hofnung, Hebrew University in Jerusalem (2009-2010).

2019-2021

• CSU, Stanislaus Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Grant to work on book manuscript ($6500).
• Elizabeth Anne Papageorge Faculty Development Award, for excellence in research, teaching, and community service, CSU Stanislaus.
• CSU, Stanislaus Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Grant to conduct research on policing in Uruguay ($5000).
• CSU, Stanislaus CHSS Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Grant to conduct research on policing in Uruguay ($2000)

2018:

• University of Florida Department of Political Science Graduate Student Best Teacher Award.

2017:

• Alec Curtelis Award (2nd place) given to international students for their academic performance and contribution to the University and Gainesville community.
• University of Florida International Center Outstanding Achievement Certificate for International Students in the College of Liberal Arts and Science

2015:

• Graduate School Doctoral Research Travel Grant ($5000).
• Center for Latin American Studies Book Scholarship ($500).
• Field Work Travel Grant, Department of Political Science, University of Florida ($1000).
• College for Liberal Arts and Science Conference Travel Grant ($300).
• Department of Political Science Conference Travel Grant ($300)

2014:

• APSA Latino Fund Grant for dissertation field work ($1451).
• Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida Travel Grant for field work in Sao Paulo, Brazil ($1600).
• Field Work Travel Grant, Department of Political Science, University of Florida ($800).

 2013:

• Conference Travel Grant, Latin American Studies Association ($600)

2012:

• Graduate Student Council Travel Award, University of Florida ($250).
• Civil Debate Wall Grant, Bob Graham Center for Public Policy, University of Florida ($1500).

2011-2015:

• Topoff Award, University of Florida ($5000).
• Grinter Fellowship for PhD in political science, University of Florida.
• Graduate Assistantship, Department of Political Science, University of Florida.

2010:

• Jacques Nass Prize for papers in the field of political economy, for "Welfare State, Immigration Absorption and Neoliberal Practices: Housing and employment policies for Ethiopian Jews in Israel,” Hebrew University in Jerusalem ($1500).

2003-2007:

• Israeli Government New Immigrant Scholarship, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, 2003-2007 ($10,000).

2023:

• “The Limits and Dangers of Police Reform: The Case of Uruguay,” Law & Society Annual Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

2022:

• “Violencia Policial y Derechos Humanos en la Era de Mano Dura,” FLACSO, Montevideo, Uruguay.
• “Neoliberalism as Comorbidity: The Political Economy of Latin American Pandemic Responses and Future Trajectories” British International Studies Association, Newcastle, UK (co-authored with Kevin Funk).
• “Neoliberal responses to COVID-19 in Uruguay and Chile,” International Studies Association Annual Conference.

2021:

• “Critical Police Studies: A Theoretical and Empirical Approach to the Study of Police Violence” Law and Society Association Annual Conference, Chicago, IL (virtual).
• “Tough-on-crime and state violence in South America’s Southern Cone” American Society of Criminology Annual Conference, Chicago, IL.
• “Neoliberalism and the sacrificial citizen: COVID-19 policies and vulnerability in Uruguay,” American Political Science Association Annual Conference.

2019:

• “Social Justice Issues Highlighted by the Prison Abolition Movement" Social Justice in the Central Valley Conference, Turlock, CA.
• "Zero-Tolerance in the Río de la Plata: The development of Broken Windows policing in Uruguay 2010-2017,” Law and Society Annual Conference, Washington, DC.
• “Policing, the Carceral State, and the Formation of Authoritarian Enclaves,” Eastern Michigan University Critical Criminology Conference, Ann Arbor, MI.
• “Breaking-Windows in the Río de la Plata: The adoption of tough-on-crime policing strategies in Uruguay 2006-2018,” American Society of Criminology Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA.
• “Imagining a Democratic Police Reform,” American Society of Criminology Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA.

2023:

• Sclofsky, S. (2023). "Violencia Organizada, Derechos Humanos, y Justicia Transicional en Mexico, Brasil, y Estados Unidos," UNAM Boston.
• "Crime and Violence in the Andean Region and the Southern Cone," US Department of State's Foreign Service Institute.

2022:

• Football, Society, and Politics,” for Dr. Kevin Funk’s course at Columbia University, New York.
• “Criminal and State Violence in Brazil,” U.S. Department of State's Foreign Service Institute.
• "Rol de la policía en la prevención de la violencia. Expectativas puestas en las tecnologías de vigilancia y su impacto en poblaciones vulnerables,” Parliamentary Debate organized by: Comisión de Ciencia, Innovación y Tecnología del Senado, Comisión Especial de Derechos Humanos, Equidad, y Género el Senado. Montevideo, Uruguay.
•  “Violencia Policial y Vulnerabilidad,” Organized by: Organización Social Salvador, Mundo
• Afro Uruguay, Casa de Cultural Mordejai Anielevich. Montevideo, Uruguay.
• “Racism and Violence in the United States,” Universidad ORT Uruguay.
• “The Uvalde Massacre and Gun Violence in the United States,” Interview for Uruguay’s National Television Network.
• “Neoliberalism, Urban Violence, and Policing in Brazil,” Columbia University, New York.
• “’Constructing Preto’: Police Violence and the Construction of Race in São Paulo and Los Angeles,” Institute of Historical Research, University of London.

2021:

• “Violência Urbana no Brasil,” Escola de Formação e Aperfeiçoamento dos Profissionais da Educação do Estado de São Paulo.
• “Trump y los Límites de la Democracia Estadounidense,” Universad ORT, Uruguay.
• “Neoliberalism, Policing, and Violence in Urban Brazil,” Trinity College, Hartford, CT.
• “The Doctrines of National Security and its Consequences Today,” U.S. Department of State's Foreign Service Institute.
• “El Ataque al Capitolio,” Interview for Uruguay’s National Television Network.

2020:

• “Violence, State Violence, and Racism in Brazil,” U.S. Department of State's Foreign Service Institute.
• “Elecciones en Estados Unidos,” Interview for Uruguay’s National Television Network.
• Interview for the Maddy Report on the support for tough-on-crime policies in California’s Central Valley.
• Discussant of the documentaries The 13th & I am not your Negro, in the context of the Scholars Strike for Racial Equality in the United States, CSU Stanislaus.
• “Myth of a Rainbow Coalition: Anti-Blackness and Colorism in the LatinX Community,” El Centro, Virginia Tech University.
• “From hyper-violence to hyper-fear: Crime and State Violence in Brazil and Uruguay,” U.S. Department of State's Foreign Service Institute.
• "Police violence and Black genocide in Brazil and the US," Online conversation with activists and students from São Paulo.

2019 – present

Book Manuscript: “Black, Poor and from the Periphery:” Experiencing Police Violence in São Paulo and Los Angeles.

• The book manuscript examines the ways in which police violence affect residents of São Paulo’s periphery and South L.A. The centrality of security and antiblackness have shaped policing in these areas, reproducing the racial hierarchical structures, shaping residents’ racial and spatial identities, their notion of citizenship, and arguing that the police construct authoritarian spaces in these areas continuing the subordination and subjugation of Blacks and Latinx residents of these two cities. By juxtaposing two global cities such as Los Angeles and São Paulo, my research shows how these experiences cross territorial boundaries.

Edited Volume: Policing and State Crimes in the Americas. In collaboration with Dr. Daniel Gascón, Dr. Analicia Mejías, Dr. John Sanabria, and Dr. Xavier Perez.

• This volume seeks to answer Biko Agozino’s (2003) call for a criminology that acknowledges its historic and contemporary role in reinforcing colonial patterns around the world. The volume advances a much-needed dialogue centering a “postcolonial” framework to deepen our understanding of the police role in maintaining Western global domination throughout the American region despite the violent end of colonial rule.

Research Projects:

“The adoption of tough-on-crime policies in Uruguay.”

• This research project examines the adoption of tough-on-crime and punitive policies adopted in Uruguay since 2010 by a social-democratic government, which shifted from an approach to crime focusing on the social causes of crime to an approach which focused on repression and zero-tolerance policing. It analyzes how this new approach has increased state violence against low-income communities and Black people in Uruguay.

The Governance of Unhoused Populations in California’s Central and San Joaquin Valley.

• This project attempts to examine the governance of unhoused populations across California’s Central and San Joaquin Valley. Homeless population has been growing in the region, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been followed by an increase in surveillance, control, and policing of this population. The research will analyze how capitalism and economic policies produce homelessness. It will examine state and local policies directed towards the governance of homeless populations. Finally, and most important, it will learn from the life experience of unhoused individuals, how this large policies affect their lives.

Police and Human Rights Violations in the Southern Cone.

• This research project examines the role of police in the violation of human rights during the military dictatorships of the 1970s and 1980s in the context of the US- sponsored Plan Condor.

• Sclofsky, Sebastián (2023). “Ron DeSantis y la consolidación neofascista,” Nueva Sion, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• Sclofsky, Sebastián (2023). “Dilemas ante la derechización israelí, en contexto de crecimiento del antisemitismo,” Nueva Sion, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• Sclofsky, Sebastián (2022). “No hay una salida policial para la violencia,” Razones y Personas, Montevideo, Uruguay.
• Sclofsky, Sebastián (2022). “Los judíos sufren la mayor proporción de ataques de odio en EEUU,” Nueva Sion Weekly Newspaper, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• Sclofsky, Sebastián (2020). “La historia de la Policía estadounidense y las teorías conservadoras que la orientan ayudan a comprender la violencia racial que ejerce esa institución,” La Diaria, Montevideo, Uruguay.
• Sclofsky, Sebastián (2020). “La utopía de un judío de izquierda en la Casa Blanca,” Nueva Sion Weekly Newspaper, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• Sclofsky, Sebastián (2018). “Los Estados Unidos de Donald Trump y el antisemitismo,” Nueva Sion Weekly Newspaper, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• Sclofsky, Sebastián (2018). “Trump may play the populist card, but he’s not Perón,” L.A. Progressive, Los Angeles, CA.

• Spanish (native)
• English (fluent)
• Portuguese (fluent)
• Hebrew (fluent)