Tanio DoCarmo, PhD
Affiliation: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Dr. Tania DoCarmo is a sociologist and Assistant Professor of Legal Studies at University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is the author of multiple publications and presentations on trafficking, migration, and ethical considerations for research and teaches courses on human trafficking, criminalization of migration, globalization, and law & inequality. Broadly speaking, her research examines how law, politics, and culture contribute to structural violence and social-structural inequalities among disadvantaged populations.
Dr. DoCarmo’s current book project explains why human trafficking unexpectedly gained traction as an issue at the UN during the 1990s when it’s not (in and of itself) new, and how its framing as a form of crime impacts the way policymakers, practitioners, and advocates pursue its solutions. Framed as criminal activity, she argues, efforts to curb trafficking often overlook the social inequalities that contribute to vulnerability in the first place – sometimes with harmful and unintended consequences for impacted communities. She also studies social movements’ use of survivor stories for mobilization and critically analyzes a recent global initiative to track migrants and potential trafficking victims using biometrics and blockchain technology. Her next project will compare human trafficking courts in the U.S. and Europe.
Prior to a career in academia, Dr. DoCarmo worked for ten years with nongovernment organizations in Brazil, Cambodia, and the U.S. She has a PhD in Sociology from University of California Irvine, and holds an MS in Anthropology and BA in Gender Studies.
Research Interests:
Law & society
Human trafficking law
Human trafficking and the UN
Criminalization of migration
Immigrant detention
Human trafficking courts
Law and inequality
Social movements
Nongovernment organizations
Long term outcomes for trafficking survivors
Qualitative and mixed methods research
Scholar-practitioner research collaborations