About

The Political Economy of Latin America (PELA) group is a joint initiative between the political science departments at Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University. PELA brings together graduate students and faculty interested in the politics of Latin America for an annual conference, as well as creating a network for more informal meetings and seminars.

The ninth conference will be held at Columbia on April 11, 2025. We particularly encourage the submission of empirical papers that are theoretically engaged and make use of original data or novel research designs. The deadline for the submission of completed papers or detailed research designs is March 7, 2025. Please send submissions here.

PELA began as a joint initiative between NYU and Columbia before expanding. Past conferences took place at NYU (2014, 2019, and 2024), Columbia (2015 and 2020), Yale (2017 and 2022), and Princeton (2018 and 2023). The conference did not take place in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please see the Past Conferences page for details on previous events.