Arianna Gonzalez
Ph.D. 2026, Sociology, Arizona State University
Arianna Quetzal Gonzalez's research focuses on second- and third-generation Latina/o/e street vendors in the Bay Area and how they cultivate spaces of belonging within their communities. Her dissertation, Pop-Up Markets as Sites of Resistance: A Study of Latinx Street Vendors in San Francisco, is an urban ethnography drawing on fifteen months of fieldwork, forty semi-structured interviews, and vendor shadowing at Bay Area pop-up markets. The project introduces original theoretical concepts, including Cultural Generational Resources, economic code-switching, and economic nepantla, to examine how vendors navigate urban displacement and gentrification while fostering resilience, cultural identity, and joy. Her work is grounded in feminist theory, building on the scholarship of Anzaldúa, del Castillo, Alarcón, and Moraga.
At Santa Clara University, Professor Gonzalez teaches Social Problems, Social Movements, and Qualitative Sociology. Her teaching approach emphasizes student engagement, qualitative methodologies, and connecting academic concepts to local community dynamics.
Arianna Quetzal Gonzalez was born and raised in San Francisco, CA, with family roots in Mexico (shout out to Jalisco!), Nicaragua, and El Salvador. She attended San Francisco State University for her undergraduate degree, where she double majored in Latina/o Studies and Public Health with a minor in Education, before earning her M.A. in Ethnic Studies from SFSU as well. She joined the Department of Sociology at SCU in Fall 2026. Outside of academia, she enjoys reading fiction, weightlifting, running, Pilates, dancing, journaling, and going to the movies. She is an avid sports fan (Go Warriors & Valkyries!) and always ready to offer a sociological analysis of Love Island or her latest binge-watch. Above all, she loves spending time with her husband and their dog, Mikewasowski Green.
Estrada, Emir and Arianna Gonzalez. Forthcoming Fall 2026. "From Tamales to Lotería: Street Vending as Labor, Cultural Ingenuity and Resistance." Aztlán.
Vargas, Arianna and Melissa Guzman. 2023. "Latino Studies and Latino Criminology: An invitation to engage in the labor of healing in the Neoliberal-Carceral University." Latino Studies 21(4): 453-476.
Vargas, Arianna. 2023. "Review of Border Women and the Community of Maclovio Rojas: Autonomy in the Spaces of Neoliberal Neglect, by Michelle Téllez." Aztlán 48(2): 281–285.
(Published under the name Arianna Vargas prior to 2026.)