About this Event
Dr Enrique Castañón Ballivián will discuss a renewed interpretation of the controversial agrarian policy under the MAS government in Bolivia
The Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) ruled Bolivia virtually uninterrupted for almost two decades. Its collapse shocked many observers and remains insufficiently explored. In this seminar, Dr Enrique Castañón Ballivián wilI revisit the MAS controversial agrarian policy to reflect on the contradictory role of the state. Drawing on Bob Jessop’s Strategic-Relational Approach, he will offer a renewed interpretation that focuses on competing agrarian projects disputing state power. Dr Castañón Ballivián’s analysis situates the agency of powerful state officials and captor elites in the more complex set of power relations within the state system, and proposes the concept of a ‘curator state’ to capture this relational and contingent form of state action. He will argue that the curator state analogy represents a productive way to characterise the role of the state in the Latin American progressivism, both analytically and politically.
This seminar is part of a series fostering dialogue between experts from the Institute of the Americas and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies.
Speakers:
Dr Enrique Castañón Ballivián is Associate Professor in Environment and Development at UCL’s Institute of the Americas. He researches the dynamics, theory and politics of agrarian change and environmental governance in Latin America, with a focus on agribusiness expansion and resource politics. Enrique is also an editor of the Journal of Agrarian Change. https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/91230-enrique-castanon-ballivian
Dr Irina Petrova is a Lecturer in the Politics of Eurasia at UCL's School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES). Her research explores the intersection of governance amid global complexity, resilience, and bottom-up approaches to development. She recently completed the project 'Mapping Community-Based Climate Solutions', funded by the UCL Global Engagement Fund (GEF), which examined local communities' climate adaptation practices across Latin America and Central Asia.
Chair: Paulo Drinot
Event venue & nearby stays
Room 103, 51 Gordon Sq, 51 Gordon Square, London, United Kingdom
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