Headshot of Eduardo Moncada

Eduardo Moncada

Assistant Professor of Political Science

Department

Urban Studies, Political Science

Contact

Within my research agenda I am interested in understanding the political factors that shape the dynamics and consequences of urban violence and local democracy and development. My first book, Cities, Business and the Politics of Urban Violence in Latin America, analyzes and explains the ways in which major developing world cities respond to the challenge of urban violence. At a general level, I argue that political projects in response to urban violence are conditioned by and reflect the distribution of political power within cities. I specifically find that such political projects are shaped by the interaction between urban political economies — referring to relations between the state and business — and patterns of armed territorial control within cities. To test my argument I construct comparative analyses of the institutional outcomes of the politics of urban violence in three major cities in Colombia.

I am currently conducting research for my next book project on historical and contemporary interactions between formal and informal institutions of order. The empirical portion of this project focuses on settings of urban crime within Latin America and South Africa.

I received my B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Human Rights (1999) from what was then known as Friends World College and is today called Global College of Long Island University. During my undergraduate years I was fortunate to travel and study in Central America, East Africa, and the Middle East. This was a transformative period in my life, during which I had unforgettable experiences and met amazing people working at the front lines of development and conflict resolution that continue to shape my professional career today. I also hold an M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of Miami (2003) and then a Ph.D in political science from Brown University (2011). For more information on me and my work, see www.eduardomoncada.com

  • Ph.D - Brown University
  • Master of Arts in Latin American Studies - University of Miami
  • Bachelor of Arts - Long Island University

  • Introduction to Comparative Politics
  • Comparative Politics of Urban Development in Latin America
  • Government and Politics of Latin America

2014      International Collaborative Research Grant, Rutgers University
2013      Research Council Grant, Rutgers University
2011      Competitive Faculty Fellowship, Rutgers University
2011      Drugs, Security, Democracy Fellowship, SSRC/Open Society Foundation
2011      Post-Doctoral Fellowship, New York University
2011      Visiting Fellow, Kellogg Institute for International Studies  (Declined)
2010      Predoctoral Fellow, Order, Conflict and Violence, Yale University
2010      Dissertation Fellowship, Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation
2008      Predoctoral Fellowship, Ford Foundation and National Academy of Sciences
2008      Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship (DDRA), Fulbright-Hays
2008      World Politics & Statecraft Fellowship, Smith Richardson Foundation
2008      Dissertation Fellowship, American Society of Criminology
2008      Peace Scholar Dissertation Fellow, United States Institute of Peace (Declined)
2008      Grassroots Development Dissertation Fellow, Inter-American Foundation (Declined)
2008      Dissertation Fellowship, Graduate School, Brown University
2007      Dissertation Grant, Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Brown University
2006      Preliminary Dissertation Grant, Graduate Program in Development, Brown University            

  • American Political Science Association
  • Latino Caucus of the American Political Science Association
  • Latin American Studies Association
  • Urban Affairs Association

Paper presenter, “Cities, Business, and the Politics of Urban Violence,” School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, October 2014.

Paper Presenter, "Cities, Business, and the Politics of Urban Violence in Latin America," American Political Science Association (APSA) Short Course on Urbanization and Local Politics in the Developing World, Washington, DC, August 2014.

Paper Presenter, "Building Order Amidst Markets and Democracy: A View from Latin American Cities," APSA, Washington, DC, August 2014.

Paper Presenter, “Subnational Research in Comparative Politics: Achievements and Prospects,” APSA, Washington, DC, August 2014. (with Agustina Giraudy and Richard Snyder)

Roundtable Participant, "Subnational Comparative Research," Roundtable at the 2014 International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), Chicago, IL, May 2014.

Paper Presenter, "Urban Regimes and Violence in Latin America: Crossing Geographic and Scholarly Borders," Columbia University, New York, NY, April 2014.

Paper Presenter, "Private Interests and Public Security: A Political Economy of Urban Violence," Seminar on Security, Citizenship, and Violence in Latin America, Instituto Tecnólogico Autónomo de México (ITAM), Mexico City, Mexico, November 2013.

Paper Presenter, "Urban Regimes and Violence in Latin America: Crossing Geographic and Scholarly Borders," Faculty Research Workshop, Rutgers University, October 2013.

Paper Presenter, "Urban Regimes and Violence in Latin America: Crossing Geographic and Scholarly Borders," Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, New York University, New York, NY, October 2013.

Panel Organizer and Chair, "City Politics and Negotiating the Social Contract in Latin America," LASA, Washington, DC, September 2013.

Paper Presenter, "Urban Regimes, Cities, and Violence in Latin America," LASA, Washington, DC, September 2013.

Conference Co-Organizer, Conference on Subnational Comparative Analysis: Lessons Learned and Future Trajectories. Brown University, Providence, RI, May 2013. (with Agustina Giraudy and Richard Snyder)

Expert Participant, "Global Thematic Consultation on Conflict and Fragility and the Post-2015 Development Agenda," UNDP, Panama City, Panama, January 2013.

Guest Lecturer, "Politics, Violence and Citizen Security in Latin America," Seminar on US-Latin American Relations, Queen's College - City University of New York (CUNY), New York, NY, November 2012.

Paper Presenter, “Clientelism, Business, and Violence in Latin America,” Conflict, Security and Development Speaker Series, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, School of Law, New York University, September 2012.

Paper Presenter, "Securing the Private Sector: The Role of Business in the Politics of Urban Violence," Conference on Drugs Wars in the Americas, Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, April 2012.

Paper Presenter, "Sector Privado y Seguridad Ciudadana," Conference on Violence in Neighborhoods in Latin America, Centro de Estudios en Seguridad Ciudadana, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile, October 2011.

Conference Co-Organizer, Violent Cities: Challenges of Democracy, Development and Governance in the Urban Global South, Brown University, Providence, RI, April 2011. (with Richard Snyder)

Workshop Discussant, Program on Order, Conflict and Violence Workshop, Yale University, New Haven, CT, April 2011.

Paper Presenter, “Politics, Business and Violence: Urban Security in Colombia (1988-2008),” Program on Order, Conflict and Violence, Yale University, New Haven, CT, April 2011.

Publications

Cities, Business, and the Politics of Urban Violence in Latin America (forthcoming with Stanford University Press).

“Urban Violence, Political Economy, and Territorial Control: Insights from Medellin.” Latin American Research Review. Forthcoming.

“The Politics of Urban Violence: Challenges to Development in the Global South.” Studies in Comparative International Development. Vol. 48, No. 3. 2013, pp. 217-39.

“Business and the Politics of Urban Violence in Colombia.” Studies in Comparative International Development. Vol. 48, No. 3. 2013, pp. 308-30.

“Counting Bodies: Crime Mapping, Policing and Race in Colombia.”  Ethnic and Racial Studies.  Vol. 33, No. 4. April 2010, pp. 696-716.

 “Toward Democratic Policing in Colombia? Institutional Accountability through Lateral Reform.” Comparative Politics. Vol. 41, No. 4. July 2009, pp. 431-49.