Lecture
FAO at the crossroads: democratic reformism or "market authoritarianism"? The case of the Instituto de Capacitación e Investigación en Reforma Agraria ICIRA in Chile 1960- 1979
- Date
- Thursday 5 October 2023
- Time
- Location
-
Johan Huizinga
Doelensteeg 16
2311 VL Leiden - Room
- Conference room (2.60)
Join us and our guest speaker, Dr. Mario de Prospo, to explore the role of the United Nations in assisting the Chilean government in implementing agrarian reforms during the 1960s and 1970s, shedding light on the influence of multinational expertise in governance.
Focusing on the role played by US economist Solon Barraclough, the international director of the Institute for Training and Research in Agrarian Reform (ICIRA), this guest lecture analyses the contribution made by ICIRA and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in implementing reform in the Republic of Chile. Stressing the contradictory positions held by the FAO, a supposedly neutral UN agency, and its involvement in pursuing policy that was politically and socially controversial in 1960s and 1970s Chile. Dr de Prospo also highlights the important role of the political and social context in which reforms were taking place, a country undergoing extensive redistribution processes and the change from a peaceful democracy to an oppressive dictatorship following the 1973 coup d’état. Join us in exploring the role played by multinational actors in a dynamic and changing environment!
About the Speaker
Mario De Prospo is currently adjunct professor in History of International Relations at the Department of political and Social Sciences and, till December 2022, fellowship holder at the German Historical Institute of Rome.
His research interests are focused in particular on the history and agency of ruling classes in the 20th century, intersecting social history and the history of political institutions. He was already a research fellow in other Italian universities, with projects related to the history of Italian elites in the 20th century.