Matheus Gato is a sociologist specializing largely in race relations in Brazil. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of São Paulo in 2015. Gato’s work focuses on processes of racialization that marked the end of Brazilian slavery (1888) in the state of Maranhão, home to the highest concentration of black descendants in Brazil. Through ethnographic and archival research, Gato analyzes the racial configuration of urban space in the nineteenth century, explores the trajectory of black intellectuals of the period, and conducts close readings of novels and short stories that reveal the formation of black citizenship in post-abolition Brazil. He has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and has participated extensively in the Global Collaborative Network “Race and Citizenship in the Americas,” an internationalization initiative led by Princeton University and the University of São Paulo (USP).