LAS UniLeiden - Contemporary History and Public Policies in Latin America

12/07/2024

Last week, we hosted prof. Ricardo Sáenz de Tejada, from the University of San Carlos. He delivered a very interesting talk on the indigenous peoples and democracy in Guatemala. Followed by an interesting discussion and drinks with the students, staff and the larger LAS community.

25/06/2024

El prof. Ricardo Sáenz estará en los Países Bajos la próxima semana. Es antropólogo y politólogo de la Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. En esta conferencia hablará sobre el estado de la democracia y el papel de los pueblos indígenas en ese país. La charla está abierta a todo público. Se agradece registro previo enviando un correo a [email protected]

20/05/2024

Coming Thursday Latin American Studies Research Master Symposium, 15.15-18 hrs. at Lipsius room 1.48. Open to everyone. Multilingual event: presentations will be in the language of the title of the presentation.

13/05/2024

Mis he niet! LeidenGlobal organiseert 'actualiteitencolleges' over actuele vraagstukken in de wereld. LAS prof. Patricio Silva zal donderdag aanstaande, 17-18.30, een lezing geven over de huidige crisis in Ecuador, waar drugsgerelateerd geweld de hele samenleving diep heeft ontwricht. De titel van de lezing is 'De perfecte storm in Ecuador: politieke polarisatie, drugshandel en losgeslagen criminaliteit'. Aansluitend aan de lezing vindt een Q&A plaats onder leiding van prof. dr. Remco Breuker.

Het 3e Leids Actualiteitencollege gaat over het toenemende geweld in Ecuador, waarbij drugssmokkel en drugshandel een grote rol spelen. Hoogleraar Patricio Silva gaat in op de geschiedenis om te begrijpen waarom de drugssmokkel daar zo'n vlucht heeft genomen.

26/04/2024

It was exciting to see the Latin American Studies track at the BA International Studies provide unique yet complementary perspectives on the narco phenomenon in Latin America. The panel members, Prof. Patricio Silva, Dr Randal Sheppard, Dr María Gabriela Palacio and Paulina Rabah Ramírez, MA, went beyond their usual areas of expertise and commented on the ambiguities, paradoxes, and implications of the narco prefix when associated with socioeconomic, political, and cultural developments in the region. The discussion was well-received by students from Leiden and The Hague, who asked thought-provoking questions and engaged in active dialogue under the moderation of Juliët Tinebra.

24/04/2024

Upcoming event, Thursday 2 May.
What is the impact of indigenous peoples in (re-)shaping the nation-state? With cases from Guatemala, Peru, Chile and Bolivia. The event is open to everyone but please register by sending an email to [email protected]
Further info at: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/2024/05/pcni-seminar-may-2024

23/04/2024

Coming Thursday in Campus The Hague!

11/04/2024

Some of the extra activities and open classes of this semester. Feel free to join!

29/02/2024

Associate Professor at LAS, Nanne Timmer, will be a speaker at this interesting event. 8 March, 17.00 hrs. at Wijnhaven building, room 2.02 (the Hague campus)

28/02/2024

PhD Defence
On Tuesday 27 February 2024 Camilo Fernández Carrozza successfully defended his PhD dissertation entitled ‘Ideología y clivajes partidarios en la conformación del socialismo como expresión política en Chile, 1891-1938’.
This historical study examines the ideological creation of socialism as a form of political expression within the party system in Chile. To do so, it uses the cleavage model as an explanatory framework for the political-party development of Chilean socialism since the 1891 civil war until the creation of the Popular Front in 1938. In general, academic debate considers that, to a great extent, the insertion of new groups into the political system depends on their degree of openness to or exclusion from this. Going against this however, the study shows that the ideological factor is important in this process, since institutional insertion is also a political decision interceded by the strategic principles and organisational conventions of a determined political setup. In this sense, the ability to adapt to the opportunities presented by the political system has been key to Chilean socialism, since this was an area in which the institutional pathway was more flexible and viable that the extra-institutional one.
The thesis was supervised by Prof. Patricio Silva and Dr Pablo Isla Monsalve from the Latin American programme (LAS). The PhD Committee was chaired by Prof. W.J. Heiser (Faculty of Social Sciences). Prof. Damian Pargas (Institute of History) was the Committee’s Secretary. The PhD Committee was further conformed by Prof. Javier Couso (Universidad Diego Portales), Prof. Cristóbal Kay (Erasmus University / ISS), Prof. Willem Adelaar and Dr Soledad Valdivia Rivera, both from the Faculty of Humanities of Leiden University.

19/02/2024

16/02/2024 LAS History at Leiden University hosted a profoundly interesting and relevant talk by Dr. Luis Cordero Vega, Minister of Justice and Human Rights of Chile. He talked about the government's plan to investigate and clarify the forced disappearances during dictatorship. The event was attended by a large audience, including the Chilean ambassador and various diplomatic representatives of LA countries. Afterwards, all participants enjoyed a cocktail together.

09/12/2023

Conversatorio sobre Plurinacionalidad y Procesos Constituyentes, con la participación de dra. Soledad Valdivia (LAS). Se realizará en la Universidad Diego Portales, el día miércoles 12 de diciembre, a hrs 13.00 (Santiago)/hrs. 17 (Amsterdam).
Registro: https://forms.gle/PjT9y4m5QgQsWwii6

14/11/2023

In case you missed it, prof. Silva in the Dutch media on the arrival of Ikea in Latin America.

Na Chili opent volgende week in Colombia de tweede Ikea-vestiging van Zuid-Amerika. De Chilenen stonden vorig jaar met duizenden in de rij en ook in Colombia worden de dagen tot er geshopt kan worden geteld. En wie niets kan kopen, gaat gewoon gezellig kijken. "In Latijns Amerika is het een uitje om...

12/11/2023

Defence of PhD dissertation
On 9 November 2023 A.L. Ferraço defended her PhD thesis at the university’s Academy building. Her doctoral dissertation is entitled ‘Energy Governance in Brazil: Meeting the international agreements on climate change mitigation’.
The thesis was supervised by prof. E. Amann (LAS) and dr. P. Isla Monsalve (LAS). The secretary of the Phd commission, prof. P. Silva (LAS), awarded the degree to the new doctor.
https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/2023/11/energy-governance-in-brazil-meeting-the-international-agreements-on-climate-change-mitigation

30/10/2023

Defence of PhD dissertation

26 October 2023 Fernanda Valdés Raczynski successfully defended her PhD thesis at the university’s Academy building. Her doctoral dissertation is entitled ‘Between technocratic utopia and academic collegiality: internal quality assurance systems in Chilean universities’. This study explores the ways Chilean universities deal with quality assurance requirements. It focuses on both the External Quality Assurance Systems (EQAS) as well as Internal Quality Assurance Systems (IQAS) created by the universities themselves. The thesis provides an analytical focus to allow the investigation of the proximity or distance existing between IQA and the institutional quality cultures at Chilean universities.
The PhD committee was chaired by prof. Ad Kaptein. The Committee was formed by prof. Ed Amann (Secretary; LAS), prof. Cristóbal Kay (Erasmus University / ISS), prof. Willem Adelaar (Leiden University), Dr Soledad Valdivia Rivera (LAS), and Dr Pablo Isla Monsalve (LAS). The thesis was supervised by prof. Patricio Silva (LAS) and prof. José Joaquín Brunner (Diego Portales University).

13/10/2023

Upcoming event November 10

How the Fossil Fuel Industry (ab)uses the Legal System: The Urgent Call for Binding Regulations to Protect People and Climate
Organized by our lecturer dr María Gabriela Palacio Ludeña.

Find further details at:

According to a recent analysis by Global Witness, five Western private gas and oil corporations are projected to spend over 3.1 trillion USD until 2050 on fossil fuel investments, severely threatening the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. What changes or reg...

09/10/2023

21/09/2023

On Thursday 14 September 2023 four Chilean scholars participated at a roundtable to debate about several aspects of the September 1973 military coup and its aftermath. The roundtable took place at the Campus The Hague of Leiden University. This academic event counted with the auspices of the regional group on Latin America and the Caribbean, and the BAIS programme. The roundtable was chaired by prof. Michiel Baud (University of Amsterdam /CEDLA). The following scholars participated at this roundtable: prof. Cristóbal Kay (Erasmus University / ISS), dr Isabel Awad (Erasmus University), dr Daniela Vicherat (Leiden University), and prof. Patricio Silva (Leiden University). This event counted with a broad audience who actively participated in the Q&A session, and it was followed by a cocktail.