11th REPAL Conference 

REPAL 2025 Conference Details

Conference Dates: Thursday, June 26th and Friday, June 27th

Dissertation Workshop Date: Wednesday, June 25th

Conference Hosted by Fundação Getúlio Vargas in São Paulo, Brazil.

Program Co-Chairs: Sandra Botero (Universidad del Rosario, Colombia & Kellogg Institute, University of Notre Dame) and Eduardo Moncada (Barnard College, Columbia University)

Local Committee: Elize Massard da Fonseca (Fundação Getúlio Vargas), Mario Schapiro (Fundação Getúlio Vargas), and Vinicius Moraes da Cunha (PhD Candidate, Fundação Getúlio Vargas)

To join REPAL’s listserv and stay updated on submission deadlines, conference updates, and other opportunities, please email us at repalconference@gmail.com and follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @REPAL_LatAm.


Dissertation Workshop

*NOW OPEN – DEADLINE FEB. 15*

Doctoral students who will have completed coursework by REPAL 2025 are invited to apply for a pre-conference dissertation workshop to discuss their dissertation prospectuses. The workshop will take place on June 25, 2025, at Fundação Getulio Vargas in São Paulo, Brazil. Discussions will center on student prospectuses and will be conducted in English and Spanish, with proposals written in Portuguese also welcome. Designed for students in the initial stages of dissertation research, this workshop is distinct from the main REPAL conference, which is intended for students who have completed most of their dissertation research. Up to 8 participants will be selected, each of whom will pre-circulate a 10-page prospectus and participate in a 4-hour workshop. Discussions will focus on participant feedback, with each prospectus allocated 30 minutes. Students will provide brief remarks on areas for feedback, followed by a student discussant’s comments and group discussion.

All selected participants will receive a $500 travel stipend funded by Harvard University’s DRCLAS, with additional support potentially available for students selected to present at the main conference.

Applications must be submitted via this Google Form by February 15, 2025 and include the following: (1) contact information (name, affiliation, email), (2) doctoral program details (year in program and expected date of prospectus defense), (3) a 750-word project description outlining the project title, a 50-word summary, topic relevance, research question, methodology, and timeline, (4) country of origin, and (5) a letter of recommendation from the student’s advisor, submitted separately to repalconference@gmail.com.

Notification of acceptance will be sent by mid-March 2025. Questions regarding the proposal process can be sent to repalconference@gmail.com.

Call for Papers

*EXTENDED DEADLINE NOV. 22*

The program committee welcomes proposals that address important theoretical and practical puzzles in the political economy of Latin America. Paper proposals (max 500 words) should be based on robust empirical field research, using methods suited to the research questions. We particularly encourage the submission of original data collection efforts on issues related to the current political economy of the region. Proposals, papers, and presentations may be in English, Spanish, or Portuguese.

Proposals should clearly explain the fieldwork undertaken and highlight the original empirical data to be included in the paper. Submissions that focus on political economy topics and clearly describe their fieldwork will have the best chances of acceptance.

Please submit your paper proposals via this Google Form. The deadline for submissions is November 15, 2024. This deadline has been extended until November 22, 2024. Questions regarding the proposal process can be sent to repalconference@gmail.com. Notification of acceptance will be sent by the end of January 2025.

Scholars based in Latin America and graduate students are strongly encouraged to apply. To promote graduate student participation, a Graduate Student Best Paper Award will be given. Graduate students should apply after they have completed most of their dissertation fieldwork and have results to present. Applications must include completion of this Google Form by the student’s advisor, verifying that the student has completed fieldwork and has a polished paper ready for presentation.

Proposals for Book Sessions

*EXTENDED DEADLINE NOV. 22*

REPAL seeks to feature new, first books that are under contract or recently published. Books should reflect significant fieldwork and original data collection in Latin America. Edited volumes, books under advance contract, or books that are not the author’s first are not eligible.

To propose a book session, please submit your book proposal using this Google Form, rather than via email as in previous years. The form will request a one-page description of the book and a full manuscript. You may also suggest potential discussants.

Discussant and Chair Participation

REPAL encourages researchers to attend the REPAL conference even if they are not presenting a paper. If funding is contingent on a role in the conference program, please send an email volunteering to serve as chair or discussant on a book panel.

2025 Conference Program

TO BE ANNOUNCED IN 2025

We look forward to your participation in making the 11th Annual REPAL Conference a success.

*To access the REPAL 2024 program, please click here to view the REPAL 2024 Conference Program (PDF).*

Conference Format

 30-minute individual sessions (12-minute presentations with 15 minutes of discussion) in three parallel tracks. Papers should be submitted two weeks before the conference at the latest and will be posted in a website accessible only to conference participants. Participants are expected to read the papers in advance to enrich the discussion at the conference. Whereas the conference format provides for intense and fruitful exchange among participants, it also constrains the available number of slots for paper-givers. The selection process is therefore extremely competitive; however, we encourage the attendance and participation of non-presenters as well as presenters.   Given this conference format, late cancellations – if unexplained — or failure to submit one’s paper prior to previous conferences will diminish chances of acceptance for future conferences.