Aurea Mota is an interdisciplinary oriented sociologist whose main research interests lie in social theory and comparative historical sociology. She studied Sociology at the Minas Gerais Federal University, Brazil (BA in 2004, MA in 2010) and her PhD is at the Institute for the Study of Society and Politics (IESP, formerly IUPERJ) in Rio de Janeiro (2012). She is a member of the Political Philosophy Group of the Latin American Research Council (CLACSO) and an associate researcher of the ‘Participatory Democracy Project’ (PRODEP/UFMG/Brazil). Aurea was a Visiting Researcher in the Department of Sociology, Sussex University (UK in 2010). She was the recipient of two awards from the Latin American Social Science Research Council (CLACSO) in 2006 and in 2010. Hers publications are about Latin America, Social Participation in Contemporary Brazil, and Social Theory.