Theory Production: Made In or For Latin America?

The essay by Murillo, Shrank, and Luna constitutes a much-needed and welcome wake-up call for those of us who study Latin America—and for political scientists more generally. The authors make a plea for “a rigorous, comparative, and empirically grounded” study of Latin American political economy. I...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Latin American politics and society 2014-04, Vol.56 (1), p.23-26
Main Author: Falleti, Tulia G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Collective rights
Democracy
Economic change
Economic conditions
Economic development
Economic factors
Economic inequality
Epistemology
Identity
Identity politics
Inequality
Innovations
International law
Latin American politics
Local politics
Macroeconomics
Medical diagnosis
Political change
Political economy
Political factors
Political pluralism
Political science
Political scientists
Politics
Praise
Prior convictions
Production
Research design
Research methodology
Rule of law
Special Section: Political Economy and the Future of Latin American Politics
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Summary:The essay by Murillo, Shrank, and Luna constitutes a much-needed and welcome wake-up call for those of us who study Latin America—and for political scientists more generally. The authors make a plea for “a rigorous, comparative, and empirically grounded” study of Latin American political economy. I fully agree with their diagnosis of this field and their recommendations. I also praise the authors for defining political economy broadly—rather than narrowly, through a focus on research methods. They understand political economy to encompass all the economic, social, and political factors that are either contextual conditions or consequences of major macroeconomic transformations. Thus the authors lay out an important research agenda for the study of Latin American political economy that includes not only issues of economic development and inequality, but also patterns of democratic politics, state capacities, the rule of law, identity politics, and international linkages, among others. For the authors, the major political and economic transformations that the region has undergone since the start of the twentyfirst century—in its postneoliberal era—cry out for a contextualized research agenda and, I would add, open a host of opportunities for theoretical and conceptual innovation.
ISSN:1531-426X
1548-2456
DOI:10.1017/S1531426X00003733