The Institute for the Study of the Americas, part of the University of London’s School of Advanced Study, is delighted to announce the appointment of a new Director, Professor Maxine Molyneux, from 1 September 2008.
She replaces Professor James Dunkerley, who leaves the Institute after 10 years as Director. Professor Dunkerley says, ‘I am delighted by the appointment of Maxine Molyneux, whose concerns to promote high quality academic research are matched by her engagement in public policy, particularly in the field of development.’
Professor Molyneux is currently Professor of Sociology at ISA, where she directs the Master’s Programme in Globalisation and Latin American Development. She gained her Doctorate in Sociology from the University of Essex, where she taught Development and Latin American Studies, before moving to the Politics and Sociology Department of Birkbeck College, London. She joined the Institute of Latin American Studies, one of the forerunners of ISA, in 1994.
Professor Molyneux says ‘ISA has redrawn the map of American areas studies in the UK. Its aim, to combine regional expertise on North and South America and the Caribbean, with a comparative, transnational perspective on the Americas as a whole, offers a distinctive and innovative approach to research and teaching, as well as highlighting the historical and contemporary links between the two hemispheres. ISA will seek to maintain and strengthen both of these elements over the coming years.’
Professor Molyneux’s research has been in the fields of political sociology and gender analysis. Her early work was on post colonial revolutions and on transitions from authoritarian rule in Latin America and the former Soviet Union.
Recent work has engaged the debates over globalisation, human rights, citizenship, and social policy in Latin America. Her current research on social policy in Latin America analyses the changes that have taken place since the structural reforms of the 1980s in regard to social protection programmes.
More details are available on the Institute's 
website.
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