Interdependent Inequalities in Latin America - desiguALdades.net

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• 1. Co-applicant
• 2. Short description
• 3. Products

1. Co-applicant

• Prof. Dr. Sérgio Costa
  sergio.costa@fu-berlin.de
• Prof. Dr. Marianne Braig
  mbraig@zedat.fu-berlin.de

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2. Short description

Point of departure

The Research Network on Interdependent Inequalities in Latin America, desiguALdades.net, is an international, interdisciplinary, and multi-institutional research network. The overarching responsibility for the research network rests with the Lateinamerika-Institut (LAI) of the Freie Universität Berlin and the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut (IAI) of the Stitfung Preußischer Kulturbesitz as executive institutions. The spokespersons of the project are Marianne Braig and Sèrgio Costa from the LAI and Barbara Göbel from the IAI. In addition, two other institutions are integrated into the activities of the research network: the Deutsche Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE, German Development Institute) and the GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA, Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien). The executive secretary of desiguALdades.net is located at the LAI. In important decision making processes the network is guided by its Executive Board, which is composed by the spokespersons and researchers from the four research dimensions. An internationally composed Advisory Board supervises the work of the research network. The research network is one of nine projects supported by the German Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research) in the frame of its funding line on area studies.

Obectives

desiguALdades.net addresses social inequalities in Latin America that are characterized by growing transregional and global interdependencies. Around 70 outstanding researchers from area studies and different disciplinary perspectives on social inequalities jointly work on phenomena of social inequalities that need to be analyzed within theoretical and methodological frameworks going beyond the nation state. By putting the emphasis on the interdependencies between different world regions, desiguALdades.net aims at overcoming the methodological nationalisms that until now have dominated research on social inequality. From such a perspective, Latin America is a highly interesting and relevant region to be studied. First of all, Latin America has been characterized by severe and highly persisting forms of social, economic, and cultural inequalities throughout its history. Simultaneously, the subcontinent as a whole and the phenomena of social inequality in particular are affected by profound dynamics of transregionalization, related to different phases of globalization. Last but not least, it is the dynamism of Latin American research on social inequality itself that makes Latin America a privileged region for developing a network on transregional phenomena of social inequalities. desiguALdades.net concentrates on two central research questions: (1) To what extent is the distribution of resources and the access to aspired social positions in Latin America shaped by global and transregional interdependencies, in addition to local, regional, and national ones? (2) To what extent does the embeddedness of social inequalities into transregional interdependencies create enduring power differences and unequal opportunities for the social, economic, and political participation of the respective individuals, communities, or societies? desiguALdades.net also aims at promoting a systematic transatlantic dialogue between epistemic communities on social inequality and Latin American area studies in Germany and Latin America. The current Latin American debates focus on (1) the phenomenon of ongoing persistence and even accentuation of socio-economic inequalities despite a general economic growth, (2) a shift from a purely economic understanding of social inequality towards one that acknowledges the multiple forms of power asymmetry by integrating non-economic dimensions of social inequality, such as culture, ethnicity, ‘race’, and gender, and (3) the link between the question of social inequality and the growing relevance of environmental issues for social inequalities at a global level. Current German research on social inequality is extremely diversified, including approaches on social milieus, lifestyles, individualization, and social fields. While emphasizing the multidimensional configurations of social inequalities and proposing a systematic analytical combination of structure and power, the global dimensions of social inequality have been rather neglected by German social scientists. Also the new perspectives on social inequalities developed by Latin American social scientists have so far only been marginally taken into account in German debates on social inequality. Thus, the basic impetus of desiguALdades.net is not only to push for a paradigmatic shift in the research on social inequalities by including transregional interdependencies, but also to create networks and interlinkages between different, formerly separated or only loosely connected research threads. This will contribute to the development of new theoretical and methodological perspectives on social inequalities.

Task Schedule

In order to work on the central questions, desiguALdades.net analytically differentiates between three distinct dimensions of social inequality: socio-economic inequalities (Research Dimension I), socio-political inequalities (Research Dimension II), and socio-ecological inequalities (Research Dimension III). In the beginning, research in the network will be organized according to these three dimensions, providing the network with a clear structure. In the course of the project, however, the analytical separation between the three dimensions will be given up in favor of a comprehensive perspective, focusing on the systematic interdependencies between the different dimensions of social inequality. The research on socio-economic dimensions of social inequalities takes a clear structural perspective. The basic approaches derive from political economics and sociology. However, the interdisciplinary design of desiguALdades.net explicitly welcomes contributions from history and legal studies as well. The research on socio-political dimensions of social inequalities takes a pronounced power-analytical perspective while addressing (trans)regional representations, experiences, and negotiation processes of social inequalities. This perspective is mainly inspired by contributions from political sciences, sociology, ethnology, social anthropology, history, and legal studies. The research on socio-ecological dimensions of social inequalities looks at the environment as the prism of social inequalities influenced by transregional interdependencies (as it is, for example, the case with soybean production or globalized mining). The analysis of power and knowledge as pursued by approaches within social anthropology, human geography, and sociology is at the core of this research dimension. Emphasizing the transregional interdependencies of social inequalities, each research dimension will be confronted with theoretical and methodological challenges. These will be systematically addressed in the Cross-cutting Research Dimension: Theory and Methodology. The aim of the fourth research dimension is to theoretically and methodologically systematize translocal and transregional entanglements in the field of social inequalities. At the core of each of these research dimensions there is a group of 5-6 principal investigators who jointly work on the specific research questions and who establish links among the different research dimensions. Additionally, there are associated researchers and institutions in Germany, Europe and the Americas belonging to the network. For achieving its research and networking objectives, the research network has several instruments at its disposal. It awards long-term and short-term doctoral scholarships as well as postdoctoral scholarships. It is also able to invite fellows to Berlin. Yearly conferences, summer schools, development policy seminars, and other workshops foster the academic exchange and the enable the network to shape its academic profile. The outcomes of the project will be published in monographs, anthologies, journal articles, and dissertations.

Expected Results

desiguALdades.net contributes to a differentiated view on phenomena of social inequalities in Latin America in the context of growing global and transregional interdependencies. Within the duration of the project, a significant body of empirically grounded research on interdependent inequalities will be produced. Areas studies will be more visible in the German and international academic landscapes. The debates within the network will lead to a theoretical and methodological systematization of translocal and transregional entanglements in the field of social inequalities. Different disciplinary and regional research lines will be connected within a comprehensive research design on interdependent social inequalities in Latin America.

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3. Products

Publications

• Publications

  desiguALdades.net plans to publish its results in form of monographs, anthologies, articles, and dissertations. In addition exists the desiguALdades.net Working Papers Series which is online accessible.

Additional Products

• Conferences

  desiguALdades.net organises a yearly conference to foster the exchange between area studies and research on social inequality.

• Summer Schools

  Summer schools in Latin America are carried out by the Latin American partners. They contribute the exchange within the Network.

• Seminar on Development Policy

  The yearly seminars on development policy facilitate the exchange between the scientific community and practitioners in the field of development.

• Workshops

  Periodical workshops enable the network to shape its academic profile as well as the research dimensions to further develop their understanding of interdependent inequalities.

• Symposia

  Symposia in cooperation with international partners contribute the international exchange.