Discussion on Regional Integration Theory at the 2022 LASA Conference
Despite the various challenges and setbacks it constantly faces, Latin American integration has remained resilient and continued to develop, albeit often in a fragmented manner. Most mainstream theories of regional integration are able to explain how this process developed in Europe, but not in other regions. This creates a fundamental contradiction which I am exploring in my current research.
During the 2022 annual conference of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), I had the great pleasure to have a very productive and extensive discussion with Prof. Arie Kacowicz. Arie is an outstanding scholar whom I had the pleasure to learn from, and exchange thoughts with during the conference. He is currently the Chaim Weizmann Chair in International Relations and Full Professor of International Relations at the Hebrew University.
In our two-hour conversation, we shared our latest research findings, interacted with our viewers/listeners and debated some possible models of theorizing Latin American regional integration. I hope that this session was of interest to our audience which included emerging and established scholars.
LASA is currently the largest and arguably most well-functioning association of scholars that work within the field of Latin American Studies. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, its development has continued to progress very steadily and I look forward to supporting and joining more important discussions with fellow colleagues in the near future!
