Laneydi Martínez, 2015-2016 President Néstor Kirchner Fellow, successfully completed her two week stay in New York

March 2^nd, 2016 · The New School · New York

Within the framework of the President Nestor Kirchner (PNK) Fellowship sponsored by the Observatory on Latin America (OLA) and the Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM) in Argentina, Laneydi Martínez Alfonso, from Mexico, successfully completed a two-week academic exchange at The New School in New York.

Laneydi, who is currently professor and researcher at the Center for Hemispheric and US Studies (CEHSEU), University of Havana, has recently finished her PhD in Economics from a combined program between the University of Havana and the Institut des Hautes Etudes of L Amérique Latine (IHEAL), of the Sorbonne Nouvelle in France.

Her research is focused on the transfer of economic shocks within the Latin American region. The work that she has developed represents a big contribution to the debate about the economic dynamics in Latin America and the Caribbean as it shows how new policies in the region could be shaped considering the emergence of new actors in the region such as China.
As part of her activities, Laneydi presented the results of her outstanding PhD research on a Seminar addressed to a diverse audience from The New School, that included faculty and students. In addition, and key to the activities of the Fellowship, she met individually with academics and practitioners in her field.

Seminars with The New School Community

Laneydi was required to present her work during one closed-door seminar with New School faculty and students. These exchanges are opportunities for the Fellow to receive detailed feedback on their ongoing research but also the introduce their topic from a new perspective.

On February 24th 2016 Laneydi presented her work during a closed door Seminar attended by Faculty from the New School such as Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Michael Cohen, Raul Rubio, Gabriel Vignoli and Miguel Robles. They were joined by Masters and PhD students from the programs in Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Urban Policies, International Affairs and Political Science. During the seminar she explained how the 2008 economic crisis changed the common understanding that changes in the U.S. economy have a direct impact on Latin America. The fact that after the crisis the Caribbean had a faster recovery than the U.S shows that difference.

Interviews and Visits in New York

Laneydi spent most of her time meeting with experts in the fields of economics and Latin America and the Caribbean. This allowed her to expand her network and most importantly to introduce the perspective on her topic that dominates in Latin America and the Caribbean. This was crucial considering that part of her work is to show how there has been a shift of economic power and influence from the Western countries towards the area which is still very much represented as having “emerging” or “periphery” economies. In this sense she was able to have direct dialogues about this part of her research.

She held individual meetings with Columbia Professor Saskia Sassen, with The New School President David Van Zandt, with New School for Social Research Dean, William Millberg and with New School Faculty Anwar Shaikh, Sanjay Reddy, Sanjay Ruparelia, Mark Setterfield, Ashok Gurund, David Plotke, Nancy Fraser, Robin Hayes and Darrick Hamilton. She also had a preparatory Workshop with UNSAM professor Lucas Gonzalez prior to her Public Lecture.

The culmination of her visit was her presentation during her Public Lecture which took place on March 2nd 2016 at The New School. She was introduced along with our Mexican Fellow Mónica Salmón Gómez, by New School’s for Public Engagement Executive Dean, Mary Watson. For more information about the public lecture, the presentation and comments click here.