Timothy Finan
About Timothy Finan
Tim Finan has been on the faculty of the University of Arizona since 1981, when he joined the then Bureau of Ethnic Studies (BER) as a research associate. He was part of the transition of BER to the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology (BARA) in 1983 as an assistant research anthropologist. From 1994 - 2009, he served as the Director of BARA and is currently a research anthropologist in BARA and as a professor (non-tenured) in the School of Anthropology. Tim graduated from the University of Detroit with a BA degree in Literature and History, then joined the Peace Corps in Ceará, Northeast Brazil from 1970-1974. He has maintained an active research program in Brazil over the last 20 years, and has worked as a development anthropologist in 34 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe. In 2011, he founded the Master's in Development Practice program at the University of Arizona and he remains active in development theory and practice. He teaches the undergraduate course Anthropology and Development and several graduate courses on methodology and global change.
Selected Publications
1997 Waiting for Rain: Agriculture and Ecological Imbalance in Cape Verde (with Mark W. Langworthy) Boulder, CO: Lynne-Rienner Publishers
2017 Cooperatives, Grassroots Development, and Social Change: Experiences from Rural Latin America, eds. M. Vásquez-León, Brian J. Burke, and Timothy J. Finan. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
2009 “Mapping the road to development: a methodology for inclusion and scaling-up of participation in policy processes,” with Donald R. Nelson and Marcelo Folhes, Development in Practice 19(3): 386-95
2009 “Praying for Drought: Persistent Vulnerability and the Politics of Power in Ceará, Northeast Brazil,” with Donald R. Nelson, American Anthropologist Vol. 111, Issue 3, pp. 302–316
2009 "Global Change and Adaptation in Local Places" with Donald R. Nelson and Colin T. West, American Anthropologist Vol. 111, Issue 3, pp. 271–274
2014 Nelson, Donald R., Francisco de Assis de Souza Filho, Timothy J. Finan, and Susana Ferreira. "Trajectories of Adaptation: A Retrospectus for Future Dynamics." In Social-Ecological Systems in Transition, edited by Shoko Sakai and Chieko Umetsu, 121-136. Japan: Springer.
2015 “Storm Warnings: An Anthropological Focus on Community Resilience in the Face of Climate Change in Southern Bangladesh,” with Md. Ashiqur Rahman. In S.A. Crate and M. Nuttall, eds., Anthropology and Climate Change. From Actions to Transformations. Second Edition. New York: Routledge
2017 “Introduction: Smallholder Cooperativism as a Development Strategy in Latin America” (with Marcela Vásquez-León and Brian J. Burke) In Cooperatives, Grassroots Development, and Social Change: Experiences from Rural Latin America, eds. M. Vásquez-León, Brian J. Burke, and Timothy J. Finan. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, pp. 3-18
2017 “Cooperativism in Brazil: The Development Context”. In Cooperatives, Grassroots Development, and Social Change: Experiences from Rural Latin America, eds. M. Vásquez-León, Brian J. Burke, and Timothy J. Finan. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, pp. 85-88
2017 “Atotori: The Discourse and Practice of Sustainability in the Amazon Rain Forest” (with Jessica Piekielek). In Cooperatives, Grassroots Development, and Social Change: Experiences from Rural Latin America, eds. M. Vásquez-León, Brian J. Burke, and Timothy J. Finan. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, pp. 100-11
2017 “Sharecroppers Transformed: The Case of the Cooperativa dos Produtores do Curupati-Peixe (CPCP)” (with Luis S. Barros). In Cooperatives, Grassroots Development, and Social Change: Experiences from Rural Latin America, eds. M. Vásquez-León, Brian J. Burke, and Timothy J. Finan. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, pp. 112-20
2017 Solidarity, Tension, and Change Along the Amazon River: The Case of ASCOPE” in Cooperatives, Grassroots Development, and Social Change: Experiences from Rural Latin America, eds. M. Vásquez-León, Brian J. Burke, and Timothy J. Finan. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, pp. 121-32
Courses Taught
Anthropology and Development
Mixed Methods in Social Science Research
Quantitative Analysis for Development
Global Change Workshop
Areas of Study
Ceará, Northeast Brazil
Maranhão, Brazil
Sub-Saharan Africa
Southwest Asia (Bangladesh and India)
Nepal
Jamaica
Projects
PROVOZ: Clientelism, Citizenship and Democracy in the Urban Periphery of Fortaleza, Brazil
Decentalized Governance and Adaptation of Climate Change in Rural Mali
IRAP: International Research on Climate Applications (Jamaica, Bangladesh, Bihar)
Research Interests
In the general area of development anthropology and applied anthropology, my interests focus on the interaction of society and environment, including livelihoods analysis, vulnerability, resilience, adaptation to climate change. In particular, I work on the impacts of governance on adaptation and poverty alleviation. I have maintained a continuous research program in Northeast Brazil since 1998, and have studied climate change issues in Sahelian Africa and Bangladesh.