Andrés Pérez-Baltodano

Professor

Perez_A

Ph.D. Carleton University
Telephone: 519.661.2111 ext. 85154
E-mail: aperez@uwo.ca
Office: Social Science Centre 4231

Research Interests

Dr. Perez is interested in religion and politics in Latin America, and the politics of Liberation Theology and Critical Political Science.

Current Research Projects

1. Religion, Politics and Social Justice: Voices of Liberation Theology in the XXI Century

This project will result in a book and a video containing his interviews and conversations with approximately twenty key representatives of the different branches of Liberation Theology in Latin America. The interviews center around four topics: lessons learned from the history of Liberation Theology in the XX Century, the future of Liberation Theology in Latin America, the evolution of the principle of “the preferential option for the poor,” and the relationship between Liberation Theology and the social sciences.

2. Between God and the State: Cognitive and Cultural Dimensions of Politics and Power in Latin America

This book project analyzes the impact of globalization on human security in Latin America and examines some critical cultural responses to this phenomenon. More specifically, it analyzes the relationship between some of the new forms and levels of human insecurity created by globalization and the intensification of religiosity in the region.

3. Critical Political Science

This project explores and seeks to articulate the foundational frameworks –ontological, epistemological, and methodological– of a political science ethically framed by the principle of “the preferential option for the poor.” This principle –the cornerstone of Liberation Theology– establishes that “that the poor, the marginalized and in all cases those whose living conditions interfere with their proper growth should be the focus of particular concern” (Compendium Social Justice, 2005, 182). In this sense, as the theologian José María López Vigil points out, the option for the poor is an “option for justice,” i.e., an “option for the victims of injustice.”

Selected Publications

Books

  • 2009: La Subversión Ética de la Realidad: Crisis y Renovación del Pensamiento Crítico Latinoamericano. Managua, Nicaragua: Instituto de Historia de Nicaragua y Centroamérica (IHNCA) de la Universidad Centroamericana.
  • 2008: Entre el Estado Conquistador y el Estado Nación: Providencialismo, Pensamiento Político y Estructuras de Poder en el Desarrollo Histórico de Nicaragua. Managua, Nicaragua: Instituto de Historia de Nicaragua y Centroamérica (IHNCA) de la Universidad Centroamericana y Fundación Friedrich Ebert.
  • 2007: Reflexiones y Confesiones sobre la Nación, la Iglesia y el Exilio. Managua, Nicaragua: ANAMA.

Refereed Journal Articles

  • 2012: “Democracia Electoral sin Consenso Social”, Revista de Ciencia Política, Santiago, Chile, Vol. 32, No. 1, April-May, 211-228.
  • 2010: “Nicaragua: Se consolida el Estado por Derecho (y se debilita el Estado de Derecho”, Revista de Ciencia Politica, Santiago de Chile, Vol. 30, No. 2, 397-418.
  • 2009: “Mondialisation, sécurité humane et politiques sociales au Nord et au Sud”, Alternatives Sud, Centre Tricontinental, Vol. 16, No. 2, 39-58.   
  • 2009: “El Estado Mara”, Nueva Sociedad, Buenos Aires, No. 219, January-February.
  • 2008: “Ciencias Sociales: ¿Para qué y para quién?, Encuentro: Revista Académica de la Universidad Centroamericana, Edición Especial: 40th Aniversario,  Año XL, No. 79, 30-35.
  • 2007: “Dios y el Estado: Dimensiones culturales del proceso de formación del Estado en América Latina”, Nueva Sociedad, Buenos Aires, No. 210, Julio-Agosto.
  • 2006: “El Dios Providencial y la Sociedad Neoliberal: Una Reflexión Teológica desde las Ciencias Sociales”, Alternativas: Revista de Análisis y Reflexión Sociológica,  Año 13, No. 31, Enero-Junio, 77-94.

Book Chapters

  • 2013: Andres Perez-Baltodano, "Globalization, Human Security and Social Policy: North and South. In Patricia Kenneth, ed. A Handbook of Comparative Social Policy. Second Edition. London: Edward Elgar Publishers, This is a revised/expanded version of the article with the same title listed in 2004.
  • 2012: “Between God and the State: Globalization and Human Insecurity in Latin America,” in Manuela Nilsson and Jan Gustafsson, Latin American Responses to Globalization in the 21st Century. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 115-133.
  • 2011: “Political Culture”, David Close, Salvador Martí i Puig, and Shelley A. McConnell (eds.), The Sandinistas and Nicaragua since 1979. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 65-90.
  • 2009: Andres Perez-Baltodano, "La cultura política nicaragüense: de la utopía al pragmatismo", Salvador Martí i Puig and David Close (eds.), Nicaragua y el FSLN: Que queda de la revolución?  Barcelona: Ediciones Bellaterra, 137-168.
  • 2009: “Democracia Consenso y Cambio Social”, in Cristina Sánchez-Mejorada Fernández (ed.), ¿De qué democracia hablamos? México: Remisoc, TDHF, UAM, pp. 89-119.

Recent Conference Presentations

  • 2012: Andrés Pérez-Baltodano, presentation of the paper Providentialism and Democracy: Tensions and Contradictions in Democratization Processes in Latin America, Nordic Latin American Research Network, Stockholm, Stockholm University, April 26-28.
  • 2010: Andrés Pérez-Baltodano, several presentations of my book La Subversión Etica de la Realidad: Crisis y Renovación del Pensamiento Crítico Latinoamericano. Universidad Centroamericana in Managua; Universidad Rafael Landivar en Guatemala; Universidad de San Carlos and the Asociacion para el Avance de las Ciencias Sociales en Guatemala.
  • 2009: Andrés Pérez-Baltodano, presentation of the paper “El concepto de espacio público en el pensamiento crítico latinoamericano”, V Conference of Latin American and Caribbean Social Science organized by the Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO) in Cochabamba, Bolivia, October, 7-10.
  • 2009: Andrés Pérez-Baltodano, presentation of the paper “State Formation and Public Policy Studies in Latin America”, at the workshop Public Policy in Latin America, the University of Calgary, Calgary, April 29.
  • 2009: Andrés Pérez Baltodano, “A treinta años de la Revolución Sandinista”, Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica, February 16.
  • 2007: Andrés Pérez-Baltodano, “The Challenges of Ignatian Pedagogy in the XXI Century”, Inaugural Lecture for the Universidad Centroamericana’s 2007 academic year. March 6.
  • 2007: Andrés Pérez-Baltodano, presentation of the paper “Los dilemas de la izquierda” at The Future of the Left in Latin America, a workshop sponsored by the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana de México on February 6 to 9,in Mexico City.
  • 2007: Andrés Pérez-Baltodano, “Entre Dios y el Estado: Dimensiones culturales del desarrollo político de América Latina”, Universidad Rafael Landivar, San Salvador, El Salvador, 26 July.
  • 2007: Andrés Pérez Baltodano, “Reflexiones sobre el estado de la cultura y la cultura del Estado en las ciencias sociales Centroamericanas”, Congreso Centroamericano de Ciencias Políticas, San Salvador, El Salvador, 18-20 July.

Awards and Distinctions

  • 2008: Elected member of the Asociación Nicaragüense de Escritores.
  • 1999: Elected member of the Academia Nicaragüense de Geografía e Historia
  • 1996-1997: Recipient of the University Students' Council Teaching Award of Excellence.