The Latin American and Iberian Institute presents a brown bag lunch with Kenneth Roberts, Department of Government at Cornell, presenting "Political Diversity in Latin America's Left Turn," Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 12:30 p.m. in the LAII.
Over the past decade at least nine different countries in Latin America have elected a left-of-center president, a political shift without historical precedent regionally. These governments, however, and the political parties or movements that formed them are strikingly diverse.
Roberts’ talk will identify different political patterns within this "Left turn," analyze their causes, and explore their implications for democracy and development.
Roberts currently teaches comparative and Latin American politics at Cornell, with an emphasis on the political economy of development and the politics of inequality. His research is devoted to the study of political parties, populism, and labor and social movements. He earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1992, teaching at UNM before joining the faculty at Cornell. Roberts is the author of Deepening Democracy: The Modern Left and Social Movements in Chile and Peru (Stanford University Press, 1998).
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu