Jan Ickler is researcher and PhD-Candidate at the University of Kassel and is coordinator at the Center for Advanced Latin American Studies (CALAS). He is focussing his doctoral research on the role of economic elites in the political economy of Latin America. He has travelled Latin America during his studies and – after he finished his master-degree in Global Political Economy – he undertook a research project in Ecuador. Jan is also interested in social inequalities, resource policy and development theory. 

Research Interests

• Elites and Sociology of elites,
• Rent and Rentier-States,
• Social inequalities,
• (Neo-)Extractivism and development 

Regional focus: Latin America (Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina) 

 

Publicactions

2021. (with Hans-Jürgen Burchardt). ”Time to live well: wellbeing and time affluence for sustainable development”. En: Third World Quarterly, Vol. 42 (12). 2939-2955.

2020. Review: Sebastian Matthes: Der Neo-Extraktivismus und die Bürgerrevolution - Rohstoffwirtschaft und soziale Ungleichheiten in Ecuador. In: PERIPHERIE - Politik, Ökonomie, Kultur 40 (1-2), S. 213–215.

2015. "Wahrheit, Erinnerung und das Erbe der Diktatur – Chiles Umgang mit der Vergangenheit". En: Quetzal, Politik und Kultur. (en linea)

 

CALAS Research Project

Title: "Political Economy of Rent and Economic Elites in Latin America"

Abstract: At the beginning of the new century, in many Latin American countries, so-called center-left governments came to power and positioned themselves publicly against the policies of the old, 'traditional' elites. From 2003 onwards, these governments profited economically from the price boom for natural raw materials on the world market, which in some cases - and accompanied by reforms - resulted in increased state revenues. While much of the current academic debate on Latin America is concerned with the economic, social and political consequences of this ''progressive'' decade, focusing in particular on effects on social inequality, marginalization and poverty, this study is devoted to the economic elites of the region.

Ecuador under the government of Rafael Correa (2007-2017) is regarded as one of the more prototypical cases of the pink-tide and so-called neoextractivism, combining more active social policies as well as the extraction and export of natural resources. Despite the political success of the Correa government and the relatively stable economic growth in the Andean Republic, it remains questionable, to what extent the proclaimed change in elites really took place. Against this background, this study examines the internal and external factors that have had a lasting impact on the national configuration of elites in Ecuador in recent years. On the one hand, the focus of interest lies on the changed relative position of various economic and sectoral elites, especially their position vis-à-vis the state and other social actors.

Theoretically and conceptually, the study focuses on rents as a specific form of economic surplus in order to link possible economic shifts, reconfigurations and entrenchments to the position, actions and strategies of economic elites.  Methodologically, the project combines qualitative survey methods (guideline-based interviews) with research in archives and the analysis of existing (economic) data (e.g. tax data, land ownership, assets) in several field research phases. The PhD project thus ties in with political-economic and sociological research on social inequalities in the region and seeks to add new aspects to the study of recent Latin American history.