Rafael Shimabukuro
Rafael Shimabukuro
Girton College
Research
Starting from a dynamic historical materialist standpoint, my research agenda is driven by the desire to understand the diverse ways the working classes and other subaltern groups pursue different visions of ‘progress’ and modernity. My PhD examines neoliberalism from below in 1990s Peru. Against common academic and activist narratives, I argue the neoliberal turn cannot be properly understood without examining neoliberalism from below, the variegated processes through which the working classes (re)produce neoliberalism. I make this case through in-depth analysis of fujimorismo, the local articulation of neoliberalism which arose in Peru during Alberto Fujimori’s rule (1990-2000).
Beyond my PhD thesis, I have an ongoing interest in issues around urban planning, local democracy and socialist self-management. I am particularly interested in the history of Villa El Salvador, a district of Lima which was founded as a self-managed urban commune in the early 1970s. I am also interested in issues of race, ethnicity and colonialism, and I have published on the politics of ethnic clothing.
Biography
I was born and raised in Lima, Peru. My paternal family is from Okinawa and my maternal family is from the central Andes. I have a BA in Economics, Politics and International Studies from the University of Warwick and an MSc in Politics Research from the University of Oxford. My PhD was funded by the Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholars Programme.
Teaching, Lecturing and Supervision
- POL4: Comparative Politics
- POL20: Politics of Latin America
- SOC2: Social Theory
- SOC11: Sociology of Race and Racism
- T17: History of Latin America
Peer-reviewed Articles
- Shimabukuro, R (2025). ‘Heroic Creation and the Socialist City: The Making of Villa El Salvador’. Antipode.
- Shimabukuro, R (2025). ‘Kimonos, Ponchos and Blue Jeans: The Politics of Clothing in Alberto Fujimori’s Performative Populism’. Political Studies.
Book and Film Reviews
- Shimabukuro, R (2024). ‘Las imágenes del poder: Alberto Fujimori, Imagen y poder de Christabelle Roca-Rey’. Trama Crítica.
- Shimabukuro, R (2024). ‘After the Collapse: Heddy Honigmann’s Metal and Melancholy 30 Years On’. Alternautas, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 272-278.
- Shimabukuro, R (2022). ‘Marx in the Field by Alessandra Mezzadri (ed.)’. Capital & Class, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 301-303.
- Shimabukuro, R (2021). ‘Crisis and Inequality: The Political Economy of Advanced Capitalism by Mattias Vermeiren’. Economic Issues, vol. 26, no. 2, pp.104-106.
Other Publications
- Shimabukuro, R (2024). ‘Pastéis de nata’. Litro Magazine.