Events
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Worldwide, democracy is in peril and freedom is under assault. Across the globe, authoritarian leaders, among them Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, are politicizing their countries’ institutions to cement their own power, undermine basic freedoms, and erode fundamental human rights. Even in established democracies like the United States, unquestionably legitimate election processes and results have been questioned at a scale and frequency that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.
Nevertheless, even under the most autocratic regimes, opposition groups can push for meaningful change. With Venezuela as a case study, this event examines how civil society, activists, and other stakeholders organize to fight back against elected autocratic leaders’ use of violence and repression. What are the effective strategies opposition groups can use against autocrats? What risks do they face? Are they ever able to reclaim freedoms? These questions and more will be discussed in this edition of “The World Today,” co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies.
Speaker
Maryhen Jiménez is a postdoctoral research associate at the Latin American Centre at the University of Oxford. Her research interests span the fields of comparative democratization, authoritarianism, political parties, contentious politics, and civil resistance, with a particular emphasis on opposition groups. At the Latin American Centre, she is starting a new research agenda examining the rise of new oppositions in non-democracies. Jiménez holds an MPhil in Latin American studies from the University of Oxford and a BA in political science from Goethe University Frankfurt.
Moderator
Dorothy Kronick is a political scientist focused on contemporary Latin American politics, especially Venezuelan politics. She is an assistant professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. Kronick’s work on crime and policing in the Americas highlights unintended consequences of common policies such as seizing illegal drugs or rewriting criminal procedure codes. She also studies democratic backsliding and competitive authoritarianism. Kronick’s work has been published or is forthcoming in the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics, International Organization, Political Science Research and Methods, the Quarterly Journal of Political Science, and the Journal of Conflict Resolution, among other outlets. Her commentary on Venezuelan politics has been published in the New York Times and the Washington Post. She holds a PhD in political science and an MA in economics from Stanford University.
COVID-19 Guidelines
Perry World House is following the University of Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 guidelines. In-person access to our hybrid events is now open to the public as well as the Penn community.
In keeping with the University’s latest update on COVID-19 protocols, masks are optional for all visitors to Perry World House. PennOpen Pass and PennOpen Campus screenings are no longer required for entry to our events.
We will continue to provide virtual access to all events planned with hybrid programming. Zoom details will be available in your order confirmation email.
Please note that our current arrangements are subject to change as guidelines evolve, and other restrictions may be put in place. We will share an email ahead of each event with the latest information on how to take part. If you have any questions, please contact us at worldhouse@pwh.upenn.edu. If you are not already on our mailing list for news and updates, you can sign up here.
