Examining how informal ties, patronage, and clientelist networks shape political power, access, and inclusion in Latin American settings.

Clientelism, Informal Politics & Governance

Violence, Security & Subnational Power

How violence is organized, contested, reproduced, and resisted at local/subnational scales; the role of security institutions, nonstate actors, spatial dynamics.

Labour, Informal Economy & Worker Politics

The strategies, constraints, and mobilizations of labour, especially in informal or precarious settings; how neoliberal reforms affect worker organization.

Gender, Reproduction, & Rights

The intersections of gender, reproduction, health, and rights as they play out historically and contemporarily in Latin America.

Environment, Agricultural Governance & Political Ecology

How environmental change, agribusiness, monocropping, regulation, and social inequalities intertwine in Latin America.

Civil Society, Social Innovation & Democracy

How civil society actors, social innovation, and governance interfaces shape democratic possibilities — especially in constrained institutional contexts