Economics and Politics

LASA ECONOMICS AND POLITICS SECTION

SECTION ANNUAL REPORT (2024-2025)

 

Ivani Vassoler, Chairperson

Renato Lima de Oliveira, Treasurer and Secretary

Past Chair: Joseph Marques

 

Report date: June 20, 2025

 

1. Leadership—The current leadership team took over in June 2024 for the 2024-2026 term. We will call for elections to renew the Section Executive Council in mid-June 2026.

 

Current Executive Committee Members

Chairperson: Ivani Vassoler, State University of New York (United States)

Secretary and Treasurer: Renato Lima de Oliveira, Asia School of Business, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

Anthony Spanakos, Montclair State University, New Jersey (United States)

Heidi Marie Smith, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City (Mexico)

Antonio Jose Botelho, IUPERJ/Universidade Candido Mendes, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

Past Chair: Joseph Marques, Webster University, Geneva (Switzerland)

 

2. Membership and Treasury - The section has 60 members (as of June 2025). Total membership decreased from 65 members in 2024.

 

These are challenging times, as many of our colleagues are facing multiple difficulties, including economic hardships in Latin American countries and budget cuts at U.S. universities. We are discussing initiatives to attract new members and are confident that our efforts will help limit further membership declines.

The section balance account is of USD $3,680.79 as of June 2025.

 

3. Panel sponsored - 2025 - Based on our membership size, the section was entitled to sponsor one (1) panel at the 2025 LASA Annual Conference in San Francisco.

 

Panel: "How Can Latin America's Emerging Political Economy Produce a Sustainable New Industrial Policy?

Session Organizer: Ivani Vassoler, State University of New York - Fredonia
Chair: Leslie Elliott Armijo, Simon Fraser University
Discussant: Peter Kingstone, Montclair State University

Papers and Presenters:

Infrastructure Policy as Political Vision: Cardoso, the CAF, Chávez, Alianza Pacífico, and AMLO, Leslie Elliott Armijo, Simon Fraser University;
Challenges for a Brazilian Path to Reindustrialization, Neantro Saavedra-Rivano, University of Brasíia;

The political economy of Chinese Investment decisions in México". Heidi Jane M. Smith, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City

Nueva Política de Litio y Entrampes a Superar Para Un desarrollo Sustentable, Gonzalo Falabella, University of Chile;

 

4. Prizes and Grants— In 2025, we made calls for a) the Best Article Award (no prize was given due to lack of submissions) and b) the Best Book Award (published in 2023 and 2024).

 

The Best Book Award Committee received six submissions. These are the results:

 

Winner (USD $150 Prize):

Belen Fernandez Milmanda, Trinity College, United States

Agrarian Elites and Democracy in Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 2024)

 

Honorable Mentions

Christopher Chambers-Ju, University of Texas, Arlington, United States

Mobilizing Teachers: Education Politics and New Labor Movement in Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 2024)

 

Juan A. Bogliaccini, Universidad Católica del Uruguay

Empowering Labor: Leftist Approaches to Wage Policy in Unequal Democracies (Cambridge University Press, 2024)

 

Travel Grants (USD $300 each)

Recipients: Neantro Saavedra, Universidade de Brasília (Brazil); Antonio José J. Botelho, IUPERJ/Universidade Candido Mendes (Brazil); Agnes Deak, Eotvos Lorand University (Hungary), Javier Perez Sandoval, Oxford University (United Kingdom), and Jose Manuel Puente Camba, Escuela de Estudos Superiores de Administración (Venezuela)

 

 

5. Summary of the 2025 Section Business Meeting at LASA San Francisco

 

The Business Meeting occurred as scheduled, on May 24, with ten 10 people in attendance (on-site and online)

The meeting began with the presentation of our membership numbers, the section account balance, and an overview of our 2024-2025 activities as follows:

 

a)     Panel selection for the 2025 conference,

b)     Results of the book award competition and the travel grant competition.

c)     Our efforts to recruit new members at the U.S. and Latin American universities, as well as expand recruiting efforts to Asia.

At the meeting, several participants engaged in discussions about strategies to increase the section membership (summarized below)

 

6. Plans for the 2025-2026 Term

●       Going forward, we will continue our efforts to enhance the section in number and activities to engage the membership in relevant political economy debates.

●       We plan to reach out to other sections and conference track chairs, aiming to increase collaborations and attract new members.

●       We will continue to use all channels of communication (Google listserv, social media sites, and any other communication venue that LASA can provide) to reach out to members more frequently and make the section's activities more visible.

●       We encourage individual members to share topics they consider relevant for debates in webinars that the section plans to organize in the future.

●       As part of our outreach efforts, the section plans to organize a pre-conference event in Paris, focusing on the political economy of Latin America, with the participation of section members and non-academic specialists.

●       The Section will strive to sponsor 1 (one) panel for LASA/Oceania-Asia 2025 in Melbourne.

●       The Section will sponsor 1 (one) panel for LASA 2026 in Paris.

 

Elections to renew the Section Executive Council will be held in mid-June 2026.

 

Chairperson: Ivani Vassoler

Secretary/Treasurer: Renato Lima

Past Chair: Joseph Marques

 

________________________________________________

LASA ECONOMICS AND POLITICS (E+P)

SECTION ANNUAL REPORT (2023-2024)

Joseph Marques, Chair

Ivani Vassoler, Secretary &Treasurer

Report date: 10 July 2024

1. Leadership—The current leadership team took over in June 2022 for the 2022-2024 term. We will call for elections to renew the Section Executive Council in mid-July 2024.

Current Executive Committee Members

Chair: Joseph Marques (Webster University, Geneva)

Secretary&Treasurer: Ivani Vassoler (State University of New York, Fredonia)

Anthony Spanakos (Montclair State University, NJ)

Renato Lima-de-Oliveira (Asia School of Business, Malaysia)

Fabrício H. Chagas-Bastos (past Chair; Harvard University)

2. Membership and Treasury - The section has 72 members (as of June 2024). Total membership increased from 64 members (2023) and decreased from 128 members in 2017. These are hard times as many of our colleagues are facing several challenges - including economic difficulties in Latin American countries and budget cuts at United States universities. We are confident, nonetheless, that our efforts at reaching new members will limit further drops in membership.

The treasurer reports a balance of USD 5,330.79 as of June 2024.

3. Panels sponsored in 2024 - Based on our membership size in December 2023, the section was entitled to sponsor 2 (two) panels at the 2024 LASA Annual Conference (refer to Conference Program for further details.)

a) Panel - The Political Economy of Latin American Cities: Brazil

b) Panel - The Politics of Energy Transition in Latin America

4. Prizes and Grants—The 2024 section planned to award prizes (for best book and best article) published between 2022 and 2023. No awards were granted, however, mainly due to a limited number of submissions.

5. Summary of the 2024 E+P Section business meeting (via Zoom)

The Business Meeting occurred on June 13 as scheduled with the presence of three members. The meeting started with the presentation of our account balance, membership numbers and the section activities during the year: panel selection for the 2024 conference, book and article awards competition, plus our efforts to recruit new members at the U.S. and Latin American universities and specialists outside academia.

We thanked our members for their conference participation and service to the Section.

End of the Section Business Meeting.

6. Plans for the 2024-2025 Term

Going forward, we will continue our efforts to enhance the section - in number and activities to engage the membership in relevant political economy debates.

We plan to make greater use of all channels of communication (Google listserv, social media sites, and any other communication venue that LASA can provide)

We encourage individual members to share more information about their research, personal achievements, events at their institutions and opportunities for joint projects.

As part of our outreach effort, the section will continue to use its YouTube channel and record podcasts engaging with membership and international (including non-academic) specialists.

Elections to renew the Section Executive Council will be held in mid-July 2024.

The Section will sponsor 1 (one) panel for LASA 2025 in San Francisco.

Chair, Joseph Marques

Secretary/Treasurer, Ivani Vassoler

LASA ECONOMICS AND POLITICS (E+P) SECTION

ANNUAL REPORT (2022-2023)

Report date: 18, June 2023

Joseph Marques, Chair Ivani Vassoler, Secretary & Treasurer

1. Leadership -

The current leadership team took over in June 2022 for the 2022-2024 term. We will call for elections to renew the Section Executive Council next year.

Current Executive Committee Members

• Chair: Joseph Marques (Webster University, Geneva)
• Secretary & Treasurer: Ivani Vassoler (State University of New York, Fredonia)
• Members at Large: Barbara Fritz (Freie Universitët Berlin) Anthony Spanakos (Montclair State University, NJ) Renato Lima-de-Oliveira (Asia School of Business, Malaysia) Fabrício H. Chagas-Bastos (past Chair; University of Copenhagen)

2. Membership and Treasury - The section currently has 64 members (as of June 2023). Total membership decreased from 128 members in 2017. These are difficult times and many of our colleagues are facing several challenges. We trust, nonetheless, that our efforts to attract new members will limit any additional drop in membership.

The treasurer reports a balance of USD 5,419.79 as of June 2023.

Sponsored Panels - Based on our total membership size in December 2022, the section was entitled to 2 panels at the 2023 LASA Annual Conference (refer to Conference Program for full details.)

1) Roundtable - The Political Economy of Latin American Cities: Brazil

2) Panel - The Politics of Energy Transition in Latin America

3. Prizes and Grants - The 2023 section awards considered scholarly work published between 2021 and 2022. We received a robust number of submissions, which were evaluated by our prize committees.

The winners of our 2023 section Best Book and Best Article awards were:

Best Book: Margarita Fajardo, The World that Latin America Created: The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America in the Development Era, Harvard University Press, 2022.

Best Article: Luciana de Souza Leão, "Optics of the State: The Politics of Making Poverty Visible in Brazil and Mexico", American Journal of Sociology, v.128, n.1 (Jul 2022, 9: 1-46).

Honorable Mention Article: Paul Haslam: " The micro-politics of corporate responsibility: How companies shape protest in communities affected by mining", World Development, 139, 2021.

In the 2022-2023 term, the section disbursed the amount of USD 1,200 split among the best book and best articles winners, plus two travel grants.

• Margarita Fajardo: Sarah Lawrence College, USD 300 (book)
• Luciana de Souza Leão: University of Michigan, USD 300 (article)

Travel Grants:

a) Neantro Saavedra, Brasília (Roundtable participant), USD 300

b) Paula Luedy, Brasilia. (Roundtable participant), USD 300

4. Summary of the 2023 E+P Section Business meeting (Hybrid)

Our audience consisted of 6 people. The Business Meeting started with the presentation of our balance and membership numbers, and the announcement of the prize winners. Likewise in previous years, the issue of outreach was discussed with a general agreement that the section must reach out to department heads, and Centers for Latin American Studies, as well as connect with specialists outside academia.

We thanked our members for their conference participation and service to the section.

5. Plans for the 2023-2024 term

Going forward, we propose an effort to make the section a more relevant platform for our membership.

We plan to make greater use of all channels of communication (Google listserv, social media channels and our own LASA website).

We encourage individual members to share more information regarding their personal research and events at their institutions as well as opportunities for joint projects.

The section will continue to use its YouTube channel and record podcasts engaging with membership and international (including non-academic) specialists as part of our outreach effort.

Elections will be called in January 2024. The Section will sponsor two panels for LASA 2024 in Bogota.

LASA ECONOMICS AND POLITICS (E+P) SECTION ANNUAL REPORT (2021-2022)

Fabrício H. Chagas-Bastos, Chair
Joseph Marques, Secretary & Treasurer

Report date: 03 June 2022

1. Leadership
The leaving leadership team took over in June 2020 for the 2020-2022 term. After calling elections in January 2022 with no candidates, the Executive Committee decided to rearrange some positions to avoid a leadership vacuum. As per LASA bylaws, the new leadership taking over was automatically elected for a 2-year mandate (June 2022-May 2024).

Chair:
Joseph Marques (Webster University, Geneva)

Secretary & Treasurer:
Ivani Vassoler (State University of New York, Fredonia)

Executive Committee:
Barbara Fritz (Freie Universitët Berlin)
Anthony Spanakos (Montclair State University)
Renato Lima-de-Oliveira (Asia School of Business)
Fabrício H. Chagas-Bastos (past Chair; University of Copenhagen)

2. Membership and Treasury
The section currently has 87 members (as of May 2022). Total membership decreased from 128 members in 2017. These are difficult times and many of our colleagues are facing several challenges. We trust, nonetheless, that our efforts at reaching new members will limit any additional drop in membership.
The treasurer reports a balance of USD 5302.63 as of June 2020. In the term 2021-2022 we had no expenses.

3. Panels sponsored
Based on our membership size in December 2021 (due to COVID19 and the cancellation of the 2020 LASA Annual Conference), the section was entitled to sponsor 2 panels at the 2022 LASA Annual Conference (refer to Conference Program for further details).

4. Prizes and Grants
The 2022 section awards considered scholarships published between January and December 2021. The Prize Committees decided to not award any prizes this year.
We thank the members for their service on the prize committees.

5. Summary of the 2021 E+P Section business meeting

Via ZOOM

Our audience consisted of 6 people.
The Business Meeting started with the presentation of our balance and membership numbers.
Likewise in previous years, the issue of outreach was discussed with a general agreement that the section must reach out to department heads, and Centres for Latin American Studies, and connect with specialists outside academia.

An effort should also be made to attract new members throughout Latin America through the personal contacts of the entire membership. We also discussed the possibility of hosting/facilitating a session/panel with invited speakers who are not currently members of the section.

The new leadership took over and the business meeting was ended.

LASA ECONOMICS AND POLITICS (E+P) SECTION ANNUAL REPORT (2020-2021)

Fabrício H. Chagas-Bastos, Chair

Joseph Marques, Secretary and Treasurer

Report date: 03 June 2022

1.Leadership

The leaving leadership team took over in June 2020 for the 2020-2022 term. After calling elections in January 2022 with no candidates, the Executive Committee decided to rearrange some positions to avoid leadership vacuum. As per LASA bylaws, the new leadership taking over was automatically elected for a 2-year mandate (June 2022-May 2024).

Chair:

Joseph Marques (Webster University, Geneva)

Secretary and Treasurer:

Ivani Vassoler (State University of New York, Fredonia)

Executive Committee:

Barbara Fritz (Freie Universitët Berlin)

Anthony Spanakos (Montclair State University)

Renato Lima-de-Oliveira (Asia School of Business)

Fabrício H. Chagas-Bastos (past Chair; University of Copenhagen)

2. Membership and Treasury

The section currently has 87 members (as of May 2022). Total membership decreased from 128 members in 2017. These are difficult times and many of our colleagues are facing several challenges. We trust, nonetheless, that our efforts at reaching new members will limit any additional drop in membership.

The treasurer reports a balance of USD 5302.63 as of June 2020. In the term 2021-2022 we had no expenses.  

3. Panels sponsored

Based on our membership size in December 2021 (due to COVID19 and the cancellation of the 2020 LASA Annual Conference), the section was entitled to sponsor 2 panels at the 2022 LASA Annual Conference (refer to Conference Program for further details).

4. Prizes and Grants

The 2022 section awards considered scholarships published between January and December 2021. The Prize Committees decided to not award any prizes this year.

We thank the members for their service on the prize committees.

5. Summary of the 2021 E+P Section business meeting

via ZOOM

Our audience consisted of 6 people.

The Business Meeting started with the presentation of our balance and membership numbers.

Likewise in previous years, the issue of outreach was discussed with a general agreement that the section must reach out to department heads, and Centres for Latin American Studies, and connect with specialists outside academia. An effort should also be made to attract new members throughout Latin America through the personal contacts of the entire membership. We also discussed the possibility of hosting/facilitating a session/panel with invited speakers who are not currently members of the section.

The new leadership took over and the business meeting was ended.

LASA Economics and Politics Section
Annual Report 2021

Date: 14 July 2021

1. Leadership

The leadership team took over in June 2020 for the 2020-2022 term. We will call elections in January 2022.

Chair: Fabrício H. Chagas-Bastos (University of Copenhagen)

Secretary and Treasurer: Joseph Marques (Webster University, Geneva)

Executive Committee:

• Barbara Fritz (Freie Universitët Berlin)
• Ivani Vassoler (State University of New York, Fredonia)
• Anthony Spanakos (past Chair; Montclair State University)
• Renato Lima-de-Oliveira (Asia School of Business)

2. Membership and Treasury

The section currently has 90 members (as of June 2020). Total membership decreased from 116 members (2018) and 128 members (2017). These are difficult times and many of our colleagues are facing several challenges. We trust, nonetheless, that our efforts at reaching new members will limit any additional drop in membership.

The treasurer reports a balance of USD 4624.41, and a membership income of USD 635 as of June 2020. In the term 2020-2021 our expenses were:

• Best Book Award: USD 300
• econopolitics podcast (2020 & 2021 seasons): USD 546.99  

3. Panels sponsored

Based on our membership size in December 2019 (due to COVID19 and the cancellation of the 2020 LASA Annual Conference), the section was entitled to sponsor 2 panels at the 2021 LASA Annual Conference (refer to Conference Program for further details).

• Broken Presidentialism? The Faces of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazilian Politics
• The political economy of Latin American cities: Unleashing the potential of local governments to promote economic growth and social inclusion

Also, we joined efforts with the Culture, Power and Politics Section to co-sponsor the panel:

• Pink Tides, Right Turns: Towards a New Authoritarian State?

4. Prizes and Grants

The 2021 section awards considered scholarship published between January 2020 and January 2021. As approved in 2020, for the first time the section had a Best Book Award.

Due to the virtual nature of the conference, no travel grants were awarded this year.

The Prize Committee decided to not award any prize to the Best Article Award.

The 2021 Best Book Award Committee awarded its prize to Gabriel Ondetti’s “Property Threats and the Politics of Anti-Statism: The Historical Roots of Contemporary Tax Systems in Latin America” published by Cambridge University Press.

The Committee also decided to award an Honourable Mention to Diego Sánchez-Ancochea’s “The Costs of Inequality in Latin America: Lessons and Warnings for the Rest of the World” published by Bloomsbury.

Beyond the monetary symbolic prize (300 USD), the Journal of Latin American Studies agreed to publish a review of the winning book of the year.

We thank the members for their service on the prize committees.  

5. Summary of the 2021 E+P Section business meeting

May 29, 2021, 11:00am - 12:45 pm (EST) via ZOOM

Our audience consisted of 12 people.

The Business Meeting started with the presentation of our balance and membership numbers. Next, the section’s prizes were officially announced (refer to item 4).

We presented the new podcast and video series the section started in 2020 —econopolitics— and the audience numbers.

Likewise in previous years, the issue of outreach was discussed with a general agreement that the section must reach out to department heads, Centres for Latin American Studies, and connect with specialists outside academia. An effort should also be made to attract new members throughout Latin America through the personal contacts of the entire membership. We also discussed the possibility of hosting/facilitating a session/panel with invited speakers who are not currently members of the section.

6. Plans for the 2021-2022 term

Going forward, we propose a very active effort to make the section a much more relevant platform for our membership.

We plan to make greater use of all channels of communication (Google list-serv, social media channels and our own LASA website).

We encourage individual members to share more information regarding their personal research and events at their institutions as well as opportunities for joint projects.

The section will continue to use its YouTube channel and record the podcast engaging with membership and international (including non-academic) specialists as part of our outreach effort.

Elections will be called in January 2022.

--
Fabrício H. Chagas-Bastos, Chair
Joseph Marques, Secretary & Treasurer