Elizabeth L. Sweet

Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Planning
PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2000

Most of Elizabeth Sweet’s research focuses on analyzing transnational economic development policies and their gender ramification, particularly for women of color, survivors of violence, and victims of violence. Geographically, she comparatively studies Russia, Mexico, and Illinois and the complicated relationships between gender, culture, race, violence, economic opportunities and workforce development. During the 2000-2001 academic year, she was a Visiting Fellow at Omsk State University, in Russia, through the Civic Education Project and examined women and economic transition. The Illinois Department of Human Services funded her research, on Latinas in the Chicago workforce (2004). In the spring semester of 2005, she was a Rockefeller Resident Fellow at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) where she presented a cross-national study of women's economic empowerment including evidence from Mexico and Russia. She also taught a class “Gender and the City” for UNAM’s University Program for the Study of Gender (PUEG). As a Fulbright Scholar in Ulan Ude, Russia (2005-2006), she examined the experiences of Buyrat women in the context of post-transition economic development policies, using a multi-method approach. Currently, she is working with a coalition of women in Chicago to examine the inter-connectedness of economic development and Latina domestic violence survivors' wellbeing and with Law Professor Sara Benson on examining legal access and economic development opportunities for rural women in Illinois who are survivors of domestic violence.

Professor Sweet explores issues of race, gender and economic status in her planning classes. She also incorporates her international research experiences to explain and develop students’ understandings of contemporary and historical planning issues as well as the data collection methods and analysis that inform planning and policymaking. She will be creating a new course called “Race and Gender in Economic Development” to be offered in the spring of 2009.

Contact Information
Room M210 Temple Buell Hall
611 Taft Drive
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: 217.333.9069
Fax: 217.244.1717
E-mail: esweet1@uiuc.edu

Current Research Areas

Professor Sweet's current research focuses on analyzing international, national, and local economic development policies and their gender ramifications, particularly for women of color.

Selected Publications

Sweet, E. Forthcoming. Gender, Culture, and Transition in Siberia: Implications for Planners and Policy Makers. European Planning Studies Journal.

Sweet, E. 2006. Condici?nes, Drogas, y La Cárcel: Life Circumstances and Drug Usage of Latino Arrestees in Miami, New York, San Antonio, and San Jose. Criminal Justice Policy Review 17 (4): 427-450.

Sweet, E. 2006. Femicide and Economic Development in Ciudad Juarez: Part of a New Gender Agenda in Planning. Progressive Planning 167 (Spring): 20-27.

Sweet, E. 2006. Spy or Feminist: "Grrrilla" Research on the Margin. Advances in Gender Research 10: 145-61.

Sweet, E. 2004. Trabajando y Cresiendo: Preliminary Findings on Low-Income Latinas in the Chicago Workforce. Gender and Human Security Latina/o Immigrants in the Midwest, Perspectives: Research Notes and News, a publication of Woman and Gender in Global Perspectives Program, Volume 24, Number 2.

Sweet, E., and Dous, Y. 2001. CEP: an International Exchange Program in Omsk. In International Relations for Developing Social and Economic Process in the CIS Countries, conference papers, Omsk, Russia, June.

Sweet, E. Indigenous People and Struggle in the Context of Postmodern Russian Imperialism: Resistance in the Buryat Republic. In review, Inner Asia, June 2007.

Sweet, E. Latinas At Work: A Framework for Economic Empowerment Strategies. In review, Economic Development Quarterly, August 2007.

Sweet, E, and J Betancur. Bilingual Community Workforce Development: A Qualitative Gendered Analysis from Chicago. In review, Journal of Planning Education and Research, May 2007.

Sweet, E. Rathgeber Revised-Beyond WID, WAD and GAD. In review, Journal of International Development, May 2007.

Sweet, E. Gender Violence in the Context of Economic Policy and Practice: Implication and findings from Mexico and Russia. In review, Feminist Economics, June 2007.

Sweet, E. Economic Development as a Focus for Latina Domestic Violence Survivors: An Alternative Approach. Working paper.

Sweet, E. Structural Adjustment and Women: Perspectives from Russia and Mexico. Working paper.

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