At the start of the 20th century, visions of decolonization were expanding across the world, but have since been reduced to fewer accepted frameworks. We center Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam to study decolonial imagination in present day. Drawing on textbooks, thousands of archival documents, fourteen focus groups and six original surveys across these territories, we identify the enduring narratives and beliefs that shape political possibility and imagination.

Using survey experiments and observational survey data, we study how question wording shapes  the result of status plebiscites, and how status preferences are largely motivated by fears about dependence on and retaliation from the United States.

Beyond racialized subjects, Latinx communities in the United States come from homelands greatly impacted by foreign intervention. Using both open-ended and close ended survey data, I study how Latinxs in the continental United States understand imperialism and colonialism compared to Black Americans and White Americans.  Futhermore, I develop  measures of colonial indentification and colonial system justification, which predict views on foreign policy preferences.