# Politics of Discontent ![Tuesday seminar logo](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_5_4__480x385/public/2025-09/Tuesday%20Seminar%20Photo%20Template_0.jpg?itok=ZrZeEeFY) #### calendar\_today Date and Time **March 31, 2026** 12:00PM - 01:30PM EDT #### pin\_drop Location **CGIS South, Room S216** No registration required to attend in person. [ Register to Attend Virtually arrow\_circle\_right ](https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Lpuk_6l-T1eS-YBRW6EJHA#/registration) In the last decade, public discontent has surged across Latin America, fueling protests, reshaping party systems, and challenging traditional political orders. Drawing on their own research, panelists will unpack the deepening divides between citizens and institutions, the roots of political frustration, and the implications for democracy in the region. This panel will illuminate why dissatisfaction has become such a powerful force in Latin American politics and what it means for political stability, governance, and democratic resilience. *This event is presented in collaboration with the* [*Weatherhead Center for International Affairs*](https://wcfia.harvard.edu/)*.* ### Santiago Anria Panelist Associate Professor, Global Labor & Work at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University ![Anria](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/Santiago-Anria.jpg?itok=uaFHYDpn) ### Gabriel Kessler Panelist Professor, Phd in Sociology, National University of La Plata and the National University of San Martín ![Kessler](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/Foto%20Kessler%20%282%29.jpg?h=afa600ce&itok=Oz9LVT2m) ### Maria Victoria Murillo Panelist Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs, Director of ILAS, Columbia University ![Victoria Murillo](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/Murillo.jpg?h=06f0d937&itok=ufRSVgah) ### Kenneth M. Roberts Panelist Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government, Cornell University ![Roberts](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/Roberts.%20Photo.jpg?h=39509ccd&itok=rgGqlUcB) ### Steven Levitsky Moderator Director, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies; David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies; Professor of Government, Harvard ![steve photo](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/060417_Portraits_16-e1689548468915-300x300_1.jpg?itok=4Zi2d9nl) ### Alisha C. Holland Moderator Professor of Government, Department of Government ![Alisha Holland](/sites/g/files/omnuum12451/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/Alisha-Holland-e1669652325704%20%281%29_1.jpg?h=638708df&itok=LK9FFwXa) ## Bios Open all sections Close all sections ### Santiago Anria expand\_more **Santiago Anria** is an Associate Professor in the Department of Global Labor and Work at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He is the author of *When Movements Become Parties: The Bolivian MAS in Comparative Perspective* (Cambridge University Press, 2018) and coauthor, with Kenneth M. Roberts, of *Polarization and Democracy in Latin America: Legacies of the Left Turn* (University of Chicago Press, 2026). ### Gabriel Kessler expand\_more **Gabriel Kessler** is a Senior Researcher at Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and a Professor at the National University of La Plata and the National University of San Martín. His research focuses on social structure, violence, and political polarization in Latin America. ### Maria Victoria Murillo expand\_more **María Victoria Murillo** is Professor of Political Science and International Affairs and former Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies at Columbia University. She received her BA at the Universidad de Buenos Aires and her MA and PhD at Harvard University. She has published widely in the US and Latin America. Her most recent books include *Non-Policy Politics: Richer Voter, Poorer Voter and the Diversification of Parties Electoral Strategies*with Ernesto Calvo (Cambridge University Press, 2019) and *Understanding Institutional Weakness: Power and Design in Latin American Institutions* with Daniel Brinks and Steven Levitsky (Cambridge University Press 2019). She has two forthcoming books with Cambridge University Press, *The Social Underpinning of Political Discontent in Latin America* (co-edited with Gabriel Kessler) and *Shocks, Democracy and Rural Unrest* (Element co-authored with Jorge Mangonnet). ### Kenneth M. Roberts expand\_more **Kenneth M. Roberts** is the Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government at Cornell University. His research examines the intersection of political parties, populism, and social movements to better understand contemporary crises of representation and challenges to democracy in Latin America and beyond. His most recent book, coauthored with Santiago Anria, is *Polarization and Democracy in Latin America: Legacies of the Left Turn* (University of Chicago Press, 2026). His other publications include *Changing Course: Party Systems in Latin America’s Neoliberal Era* (Cambridge University Press). ### Steven Levitsky expand\_more **Steven Levitsky** is David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies and Professor of Government and Director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard. He is Senior Fellow at the Kettering Foundation and a Senior Democracy Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. His research focuses on democratization and authoritarianism, political parties, and weak and informal institutions, with a focus on Latin America. He is co-author (with Daniel Ziblatt) of *How Democracies Die*, which was a *New York Times* Best-Seller and was published in 30 languages, and *Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point*. He has written or edited 11 other books, including *Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America: Argentine Peronism in Comparative Perspective* (Cambridge University Press 2003), *Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War* (with Lucan Way) (Cambridge University Press, 2010), and *Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism* (with Lucan Way) (Princeton University Press, 2022). He and Lucan Way are currently working on a book on democratic resilience across the world. Professor Levitsky has written for *New York Times*, *The Washington Post*, *The Atlantic*, *Foreign Affairs*, and *The New Republic*, and he has been a columnist for *La Republica* (Peru) and *Folha de São Paulo* (Brazil). ### Alisha C. Holland expand\_more **Alisha C. Holland** studies the comparative political economy of development with a focus on Latin America. Her first book, *Forbearance as Redistribution: The Politics of Informal Welfare in Latin America* (Cambridge University Press, 2017), examines the politics of law enforcement against the poor. She is working on a new book on the institutional determinants and challenges of infrastructure investment in Latin America. Prior to joining the faculty, she was an assistant professor in the Politics Department at Princeton University and a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. See also:- [ Cambridge ](/locations/cambridge-office) - [ Tuesday Seminar Series ](/programs-initiatives/tuesday-seminar-series) Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#) Save: [ Add to calendar calendar\_today ](https://www.drclas.harvard.edu/node/1589211/event-feed.ics) Copy link link