Economics and Politics

Brazil book launch (in English): Business of the State: Why State Ownership Matters for
Resource Governance, Oxford University Press, 2024, by Dr Jewellord T. Nem Singh.

The Centre for Research in Comparative Political Economy in the Graduate Program in Political
Sociology (PPGSP), University Candido Mendes (UCAM) invite you to join us for the presential Brazil
book launch (in English only) of Business of the State: Why State Ownership Matters for Resource
Governance (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr Jewellord T. Nem Singh.

Business of the State details how mineral states might design effective growth strategies in the
context of strategic competition and climate emergency, via the rise of a hybrid developmental
strategy during 1990s and 2010s- the embrace of market-conforming policies to attract FDI and the
re-assertion of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) as players in industrial development. Drawing from
the experiences of Brazil's Petrobras and Chile's Codelco, it argues that SOEs might open new
pathways for technological innovation and even support industrial policy, if subjected to effective
governance reforms and aligned with the private sector. The book thus shifts the analytical lens away
from extractivism as a growth model, towards SOE-driven hybrid development strategies.

The book, using a historical institutionalist framework, process tracing the complex process of
market reforms in highly strategic natural resource industries, answers fundamental questions about
states and markets: why do states seek to intervene in the affairs of public enterprises? And what
role might they play in structural transformation?

• Provides in-depth analysis of mining governance and state enterprise reforms based on 10
years of fieldwork experience in Brazil and Chile.
• Includes up-to-date discussion on industrial policy and recent changes in mining legislation
in the context of clean energy transition.
• Offers a new theoretical framework combining historical institutionalism and political
economy analysis on state ownership and extractivism.

Jewellord T. Nem Singh is an Assistant Professor of International Development at the International
Institute of Social Studies (ISS) and a Global Fellow in the Environmental Change and Security
Program (ECSP) and the Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition (WISC) at the Wilson Centre,
Washington DC (https://youtu.be/IbTzS2Eb7o0?si=gduZpBeCBjR8ogKz). He is the Principal
Investigator of the European Research Council Starting Grant Green Industrial Policy in the Age of
Rare Metals (GRIP-ARM) (GRIP-ARM) under Grant No. 950056 (2021-2025). His most recent
publications include Business of the State: Why State Ownership Matters for Resource Governance
(Oxford University Press, 2024) and The Politics of Designing and Negotiating Industrial Policy:
Prospects and Challenges of State-led Development in the 21st Century (Routledge, Forthcoming);
"Incentives for Photovoltaic Energy Generation: A Comparative Analysis of Policies in Spain,
Germany, and Brazil", Energy Strategy Reviews, 54 (101415); "SWOT Analysis of Brazilian Energy
Policy: A Comparative Panel Data Analysis of the Twenty Largest Economies", Energy Policy, 191
(11472); and “The Advance of the State and the Renewal of Industrial Policy in the Age of Strategic
Competition”, Third World Quarterly, 44 (9): 1919-1937.

Event details:

• Date & Time: 9th October 2024, 18:00 – 20:30.
• Place: UCAM Unidade Ipanema, Rua Joana Angélica 63 – Ipanema – Rio de Janeiro,
Auditório Professor Antônio Luiz, Andar P.
• Registration: please send an email with your name, post and institution to:
jsoares@candidomendes.edu.br

Agenda:

• Welcome words: Prof. Camila de Mario, Head, Graduate Program in Political Sociology
(PPGSP), University Candido Mendes (UCAM).
• About the Author & Book Presentation: Full Prof. Antonio José Junqueira Botelho and Head,
Centre for Research in Comparative Political Economy, PPGSP-UCAM, will introduce the
author and outline the key themes of the book.
• Book commentary (online): Nicolas Lippolis, Postdoctoral Researcher at Columbia Climate
School, as well as a Nonresident Scholar in the Africa Program at the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace.
• Q&A Session: Moderated by Prof. Moisés Balestro, University of Brasília (UnB), CNPq Project
Coordinator, “The green transition policy in electric transport and energy in Brazil and
Mexico: State, institutional arrangements and coalitions” (2023-2025).
• Closing Remarks: Full Prof. Antonio José Junqueira Botelho.

Additional information:

• How to buy the book: Details on how to obtain a copy with a special book launch discount.
The 30% discount code for is ASFLYQ6 and can be entered at checkout on the OUP website.
• If your schedule doesn't permit attendance, you can still show your support by sharing this
invitation and watch it in the PPGSP YouTube channel: @SociologiaPolíticaIUPERJ-UCAM.

We look forward to seeing you on 9th October!

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