Latin American Centre

Professor Scott Mainwaring gives a talk for the Latin American Centre seminar series On 31st January 2014, Professor Scott Mainwaring presented his forthcoming book with Aníbal Pérez-Liñán "Democracies and Dictatorships in Latin America: Emergence, Survival, and Fall" at the Latin American Centre. Professor Mainwaring is the Eugene and Helen Conley Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, where he previously directed the Kellogg Institute for International Studies.

Dr George Meszaros (University of Warwick) gives a talk for the Latin American Centre seminar series. On 24th January 2014, Dr George Meszaros (University of Warwick) discussed his recently published book "Social Movements, Law and the Politics of Land Reform: Lessons from Brazil." The book investigates how rural social movements are struggling for land reform against the background of ambitious but unfulfilled constitutional promises. Taking Brazil as an example, the book unpicks the complex reasons behind the remarkably consistent failures of the constitution and law enforcement mechanisms to deliver social justice.

Alan Knight (St Antony’s College) gives a talk for the Latin American Centre seminar series. On 3rd December 2013, Alan Knight (St Antony’s College) lectured to a large and appreciative audience on the topic of “Challenging Frontiers: On the Making—and Unmaking?—of Latin American Nations (especially Mexico).” Professor Knight, one of the leading historians of 20th century Mexico, held the statutory Professorship in Latin American History at the University of Oxford from 1992 to 2013.

Bert Hoffmann (German Institute of Global and Area Studies) gives a talk for the Latin America Seminar Series. On 12th November 2013, Dr Bert Hoffmann (GIGA Hamburg) discussed the new role of the Internet in shaping the public sphere in Cuba. He analyzed the recent controversy in which musician Robertico Carcassés improvised lyrics and criticized the regime during a concert broadcast live on state television. This episode, which went straight to YouTube and other social media sites, was also distributed widely on USB sticks and generated intense online and public discussion.

James McGuire (Wesleyan University) gives a talk for the Latin American Centre seminar series. On 5th November 2013, Professor James McGuire, chair of the Department of Government at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, analyzed the conditional cash transfer programmes introduced by the government of Evo Morales since 2006. He debated the sources and effectiveness of CCT programmes with LAC-affiliated Bolivia specialists such as John Crabtree, David Preston and Laurence Whitehead. McGuire's most recent book, Wealth, Health, and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 2010) won the Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research awarded by the ECPR.

Mario Tello (Pontifícia Universidad Católica del Perú and CAF Visiting Fellow in Latin American Economics gives a talk for ther Latin American Centre seminar series. On 29th October 2013, Dr Mario Tello, professor of economics at the Catholic University of Peru, and also the Oxford-CAF Visiting Fellow in Latin American Economics for Michaelmas Term 2013, gave a lecture on social inclusion during Peru's recent economic boom.

Malcolm Deas gives the Guido Di Tella Memorial Lecture on 25th October 2013. On 25 October 2013 the Latin American Centre and St Antony’s College co-sponsored the inaugural Guido Di Tella Memorial Lecture at the Nissan Lecture Theatre. Guido Di Tella was Argentina’s Foreign Minister for nearly a decade and a long-time associate of the College and the Latin American Centre. He spent the years after the 1976 military coup in Oxford. He had a lifetime commitment to both public and academic life.

Malcolm Deas, a close friend of Guido’s and the Di Tella family, a distinguished scholar of Latin America, and a dear colleague of the LAC and St Antony’s delivered the inaugural lecture. There is no one who could better represent the spirit behind the memorial lecture series, specifically to remember Guido, to contribute to the understanding of the region’s complexities, and to highlight the role that the College has played in enhancing knowledge about Latin America from the initial formation of a Latin American programme in 1959. Malcolm Deas lecture focused on “Frontiers and Cultures: Reflections on Lucio V. Mansilla and Francis Parkman

Roundtable discussion with Faisal Ahmed (Nuffield); David Doyle (St Hugh's); Isabel Ruiz (Harris Manchester); Diego Sánchez-Ancochea (St Antony's). Convened by Timothy Power. On 22nd October 2013, the LAC held a roundtable discussion on the economic and political effects of remittances to Latin America. Isabel Ruiz (Harris Manchester College), Faisal Ahmed (Nuffield College), and David Doyle (St Hugh's College) analyzed how remittances ameliorate economic downturns in the region, how they impact traditional political practices such as clientelism, and how they may affect electoral choices. The three presentations were discussed by Dr Diego Sánchez- Ancochea (St Antony's College) and by an audience of faculty and students.

Roundtable discussion with Alan Angell (St Antony's); Cath Collins (University of Ulster); Scott Mainwaring (University of Notre Dame). Convened by Timothy Power. On 15th October 2013, the LAC held a roundtable discussion on the legacy of the Chilean military coup of 11th September 1973, which deposed the elected Socialist president Dr Salvador Allende and led to 17 years of military dictatorship by General Augusto Pinochet. Alan Angell (emeritus fellow, St Antony's College), who pioneered an important academic solidarity campaign in the 1970s and 1980s, analyzed the international repercussion of the coup. Cath Collins (University of Ulster) examined how the 40th anniversary of the coup was observed in Santiago de Chile, and also documented how the legacy of the Pinochet years is very much present in the presidential campaign of 2013. The presentations were discussed by Scott Mainwaring (University of Notre Dame)

Podcast from The Latin American Centre, University of Oxford; featuring Angus Lapsley, Dr Timothy Power, Professor Rosemary Foot and L. Enrique García.