Annabella España-Nájera is professor of Chicano and Latin American studies at California State University, Fresno. Her research examines democracy, authoritarianism, and political institutions in Latin America, with a particular focus on Guatemala and El Salvador. She has conducted extensive fieldwork on party system change, the weaponization of judicial institutions, and gender and representation in local politics. Building on this work, her current project, “Bridging Borders: Central American Immigrants’ Integration in the United States”, explores how migrants participate civically and politically in U.S. communities while maintaining transnational ties to their home countries. España-Nájera’s work has published in Party Politics, Latin American Politics and Society, and Social Science Quarterly, as well as edited volumes on Latin American politics. She is also committed to mentoring undergraduate students, particularly first-generation and Latino students at Fresno State.
