Revista Euro latinoamericana de Análisis Social y Político (RELASP)

The State in Latin America: Political Mutations in the Face of Disagreement

Editors: Jaime Preciado Coronado (University of Guadalajara) and Rafael Plancarte Escobar (University of Guanajuato).

The Editorial Board of the Revista Euro latinoamericana de Análisis Social y Político (RELASP) is pleased to announce the launching of its call for articles and essays for the January-July 2024 issue. The contents and problems addressed should be linked to the theme: The State in Latin America: Political Mutations in the Face of Disagreement.

The State remains a central concept in the social sciences and philosophy. This phenomenon has been approached from different perspectives and methodologies. While for contractualism the State is explained as the product of a pact in which individuals agree to submit to an entity that promises to guarantee order in exchange for obedience, for authors such as Nozick (1988) the State, like the market, constitutes a phenomenon of the "invisible hand", a result that is not intentional. While for some versions of Marxism the State is conceived as an instrument for the proper functioning of capitalism (Sonntag and Valecillos, 1982), for contemporary authors such as Acemoglu and Robinson (2012) the State is fundamental for development when it promotes inclusive economic institutions -quality public goods, efficient legal systems, private property-, and, rational choice theory conceives it as an elementary 'solution' to solve the problems of cooperation that result from actors who put their own welfare before that of others.

As Migdal (2008) proposed, one of the theoretical problems implicit in the study of the State lies in the assumptions underlying its analysis -for example, the one that conceives it as the monopoly of the legitimate use of force-, so that a more adequate framework must be stripped of idealized or instrumentalist foundations. State weakness is a more common reality than political theory has accepted. Not only that: as Acemoglu and Robinson (2020) have shown, it is also relevant to determine in the analysis whether the society is strong or weak; only a proper balance between a strong State and a robust society can enable freedom and economic development. State weakness is one of the current issues in social science, so it is not surprising that the empirical assessment of State capabilities has gained momentum in recent years.

Approaches of this type are convenient for understanding the State in a context such as that of Latin America, where contentious disagreement produces the weakness or absence of the State. Thus, political polarization has led to criminal violence, social inequality, and lack of governance. At the same time, authoritarianism is still present in some regimes in the region.
The State constitutes an object of illiberal redesign in a context in which the debate between populism, progressivism and the political emergence of the extreme right is torn by disagreement and the lack of effective mechanisms for coexistence. 

This issue aims to renew scientific reflection on the State in Latin America through the study of its different dimensions and from novel methods and theories. 
Some of the topics covered by this call for papers are:

•    Analysis and measurement of State capabilities; 
•    The role of the State in the democratization process;  
•    Political regime, party system; institutions and powers of the State.
•    The State and social movements; 
•    Drug trafficking and the absence of the State; 
•    Analysis of the State in comparative perspective;
•    Contemporary approaches to the study of the State from political theory;
•    Illiberal reconstruction of the State; 
•    Populisms, progressivisms and extreme right-wingers;
•    Governance and the State in Latin America. 

The call closes on 30 July 2024. All texts should be sent to rafaelplancarteontheroad@hotmail.com.

The submission rules can be consulted at https://relasp.unr.edu.ar/index.php/revista/envio. The languages considered by RELASP are Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, and Italian. Additional questions may be sent to the indicated e-mail address.