Poverty and multidimensional inequalities: towards new social pacts?

 Poverty and multidimensional inequalities: towards new social pacts?

INDIVIDUAL OR TEAM RESEARCH PROJECTS

Registration closes: June 20, 2022

Latin America and the Caribbean share a persistent history of the production and reproduction of inequalities and dynamics that generate poverty, alongside various movements that have fought and continue to fight against them. Furthermore, according to several studies, this subregion is one of the most unequal in the world, especially when poverty and inequality are viewed in a multidimensional and intersectional way.

However, studies and research on poverty and its causes in the region have been dominated by approaches that have emphasized descriptions and quantifications of poverty through the use of economic or income distribution indicators. Thus, studies that link poverty with inequality and address these issues from multidimensional perspectives are still infrequent.

The primacy of approaches that have emphasized the study of quantitative aspects of poverty has resulted in the development of public policies aimed almost exclusively at poverty alleviation and the systematization of statistical results, limiting the role of the State in these policies to merely alleviating poverty. Within this framework, the analysis of the complex and diverse causes of poverty has been postponed, and various initiatives proposed to counteract the inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic have not been fully developed.

The current pandemic and post-pandemic situation has caused the extreme poverty rate in Latin America to increase from 13,1% of the population in 2020 to 13,8% in 2021, a setback of 27 years; while the overall poverty rate represents 32,1% of the population. This means that the number of people living in extreme poverty rose from 81 million to 86 million between 2020 and 2021, and the total number of people living in poverty is 201 million, according to data published in early 2022 by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Similarly, various studies by CLACSO and organizations such as Oxfam have shown how inequalities have widened with the pandemic, increasing not only the concentration of wealth but also the privileges of increasingly smaller groups that are resistant to any change that might alter this unjust dynamic.

This situation demands the development and application of new, more comprehensive and multidimensional methods for measuring poverty, as well as the identification of the social mechanisms and dynamics that link poverty with inequality. Similarly, it is necessary to develop research that acknowledges the multidimensional and intersectional nature of inequalities and advances not only in characterizing their structural causes, but also in understanding their cultural and subjective aspects that are shaped in the daily lives of individuals and in their capacity for agency and resistance to confront and counteract the experiences of inequality they encounter daily, as well as the mechanisms that produce and reproduce these inequalities.

Furthermore, the pandemic has placed at the forefront of public agendas the discussion about the need for new social and eco-social pacts that redefine the possibilities for communal life in Latin American and Caribbean societies. In this sense, following the proposals of the Social, Ecological, Economic, and Intercultural Pact of the South, the current situation can be seen as an opportunity for change, to build a different future based on the care of life, articulating social and environmental justice, and recognizing the capacity of territories and communities.

Based on these analyses and challenges, CLACSO is launching the Call for Individual or Team Research Projects, “Multidimensional Poverty and Inequality: Towards New Social Pacts?”. This call seeks to promote the submission of research proposals from researchers of diverse disciplines, backgrounds, and experiences, who address the problems outlined here from a critical perspective and with the aim of contributing ideas and input to meet the challenges posed by offering innovative proposals that will impact the experiences of social organizations and public policies.

CONTEST RULES

  • The applicant must be a researcher with accredited ties to CLACSO Member Centers. The information provided in the application form will be considered a sworn statement. If awarded the scholarship, the applicant must submit a letter of support signed by the highest authority of the member center.
  • Individual and group presentations of up to 3 members will be accepted.
  • In the case of teams, they must respect gender parity (they cannot be composed solely of men or solely of women) and must select one member as the project registration representative. Teams must be composed of established researchers, meaning those with a master's degree, doctorate, or equivalent qualification and a proven academic track record, and researchers in training, meaning those currently pursuing a master's or doctoral degree or who are up to 35 years of age, in which case they must hold an undergraduate degree. Teams are expected to be intergenerational, integrating researchers with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
  • In the case of collective applications, the composition of the team will be an indicator to be taken into account in the evaluation of the proposal.
  • Each researcher may only participate with one proposal in this call.
  • If the scholarship is awarded and travel is necessary, the winners will be responsible for covering the costs of medical insurance or similar expenses.

Up to 6 projects will be supported.

The amount of support granted will consist of U$D 10.000 (ten thousand US dollars or its equivalent in local currency) for each winning proposal.

The proposed research will be conducted over a maximum period of 10 (ten) months. Funding will be disbursed in installments via bank transfers made to the team leader. It is expected that at least 60% of the funds will be used for activities related to gathering and processing the information necessary for the research, which must be reported to CLACSO with supporting documentation.

The selected proposals will work with the support of tutors assigned by CLACSO who will follow the process of their research and results.

CLACSO will publish the final products in print and/or digital media, giving them wide publicity and dissemination through the means it deems appropriate. If necessary, researchers will be asked to make the adaptations and adjustments required for the publication of the resulting research.

The authors will transfer the original publication rights of their works, given that CLACSO adheres to and defends the principles of open science and open access to knowledge, so that the resulting work is easy to find, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. Subsequently, these works may be published in any other medium, always citing the grant received. Researchers must inform CLACSO of the subsequent publication of works resulting from the grant work.

  • The member centers to which the applicants are linked must not have any outstanding debts in the payment of membership fees corresponding to the year 2021.
  • Completed research projects will not be accepted. Proposals may be linked to ongoing research processes, but the final works must be original and unpublished products and developed within the period established by the call for proposals.
  • Members of the Steering Committee or officials of the CLACSO Executive Secretariat may not participate.
  • Proposals from researchers who are currently recipients of research grants, fellowships, or research projects organized by CLACSO will not be accepted. Applications from researchers who have previously received a CLACSO research grant will be accepted, provided that the recipient has fulfilled all obligations in a timely manner.
  • Texts written in the four languages ​​commonly used in Latin America and the Caribbean (Spanish, English, Portuguese and French) will be accepted, depending on the country of origin of the proposal.
  • In the first stage, the submitted proposals will be reviewed for their formal and administrative aspects to ensure their compliance with the competition rules. Proposals that do not meet the established requirements will be rejected.
  • Applications that pass to the next stage will be evaluated by an International Committee composed of experts who will assess the quality and relevance of the proposals, which will be submitted under a pseudonym.
  • The Call may be declared void or a smaller number of scholarship recipients may be selected, if the proposals submitted do not meet the required quality and consistency.
  • Situations not covered in this document will be resolved by the convening institution.
  • The ruling will be final.
  • The research projects will develop their work plan between July 2022 and May 2023. This plan will be implemented under the facilitation of tutors assigned by CLACSO.
  • The adjusted proposals, progress reports and final document submitted by the scholarship recipients will be evaluated by the tutors.
  • In their final version, the research papers submitted as a result should be between 12.000 and 15.000 words in length (excluding appendices and bibliography), written in Times New Roman 12-point font, single-spaced. This is an approximate guideline, and CLACSO reserves the right to make revisions or exceptions if deemed necessary. Furthermore, once submitted, CLACSO may request adjustments and changes from researchers to ensure the final research documents meet institutional publication criteria.
  • The structure of the text will be free, respecting the conventions of presentation of an academic text and the editorial standards of CLACSO, in addition to APA + GENRE.
  • In addition, each team must submit a Guidelines for Action Document, containing inputs and recommendations for public policies and social intervention on the topics investigated.
  • Texts written in the four languages ​​commonly used in Latin America and the Caribbean (Spanish, English, Portuguese and French) will be accepted, depending on the country of origin of the proposal.

It is mandatory that the submission be made through the online registration system provided by CLACSO. Printed submissions and submissions sent by email will not be accepted. It is recommended to access the online system to review the registration form. 

  1. Access the CLACSO website clacso.orgThe online registration system will be available starting on the day May 2th.
  2. Register in the CLACSO Single Registration System (SUIC). The generated username and password will be required each time you wish to access the system to consult, modify, add, or submit information for this or any other CLACSO activity. Applicants who are part of collective proposals must open a single form This will include all researchers on the team. One of the authors must also be designated as responsible for the registration. This same person will receive the corresponding monetary award if the proposal is selected by the Jury.
  3. Identify the proposal by indicating its title and the pseudonym of the applicant(s). Applications with pseudonyms that correspond to the applicant's first and/or last name will not be accepted. Once the corresponding fields are completed, the system will enable the uploading of the following data.
  4. Applicants must complete the registration form indicating their affiliation with a CLACSO Member Center. The list of member centers can be found at: https://www.clacso.org/institucional/centros-asociados/
  5. Complete the form personal and academic data and attach the curriculum vitae in free format; the digital copy of the identity document, passport or ID card; the digital copy of the highest academic degree obtained (or proof of degree in process) and the photograph.
  6. The proposal must be filled out on the form that appears once the personal and academic data has been completed.
  7. Once registration is closed, the system will produce an electronic certificate of receipt that will serve as proof.

Registration closes: June 20, 2022, 23:59 PM (Argentina)
Winners will be announced in July 2022.
Project implementation: from July 2022 to May 2023
Final report submission: May 2023

The results will be published on the CLACSO website. The winners will be contacted by email.

Queries: [email protected]

Terms and conditions and forms: [Link]


OPINION – Poverty and multidimensional inequalities: towards new social pacts?

The Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) announces the results of the Research Call “Poverty and multidimensional inequalities: towards new social pacts?”.

They were received 83 Complete applications that, after technical and formal review, were in a position to be qualitatively evaluated by the International Committee to consider the quality, relevance and coherence of the proposals according to the Call for Proposals.

The evaluation process was carried out by an International Committee composed of 17 experts 10 countries of the region: Rita Alves (Brazil), Luis Bonilla Ortiz Arrieta (El Salvador), Edwin Catacora (Bolivia), Manuel Dammert-Guardia (Peru), Angélica De Sena (Argentina), Jorge Leal (Uruguay), Marcia Leite (Brazil), Carmen Midaglia (Uruguay), Analía Minteguiaga (Argentina/Ecuador), Josefina Morales (Mexico), Gerardo Ordóñez (Mexico), Alicia Puyana (Mexico), Cecilia Salazar (Bolivia), María Fernanda Sañudo (Colombia), Eduardo Toche (Peru), Rosa María Voghon (Cuba) and Juan Wahren (Argentina).

Following the evaluation, which recognized the excellent quality, relevance, and rigor of most of the applications, Six proposals were selected.

The list of proposals selected in this Call for Proposals is as follows:

Authors

Member Center

Country

Title of the proposal

Hernán Horacio Schiaffini

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences – FHCS-UNPSJB – National University of Patagonia San Juan Bosco

Argentina

Mapuche and poor in the far south. On the mechanisms of production and reproduction of inequality in Argentine Patagonia

Laura Raquel León Kanashiro, Ian Cilich

 Institute of Scientific Research – IDIC – University of Lima

Peru

Digital inequality: perspectives of Peruvian teenagers

Jenny Torres

Alternative City Association – CA

Dominican Republic

Territorial poverty: towards a redefinition of poverty measurement

Maria José Reyes Andreani, Juan David Zabala Sandoval, Juan Fernando Pavez

Department of Psychology – DP/UCHILE – Faculty of Social Sciences – University of Chile

Chile

Support for people experiencing homelessness and its relationship to gender reproduction

Yolanda Peña, Angel Lendechy Grajales, María Guadalupe Andueza Pech

Social Sciences Unit of the Dr. Hideyo Noguchi Regional Research Center – UCS, CIR, UADY – Autonomous University of Yucatán

Mexico

Measuring food poverty from the socio-critical paradigm and an intercultural perspective for Maya-speaking communities in Yucatán

Carolina González Laurino, Santiago Zorrilla de San Martín, Juan Matías Rodales Mariño

Department of Social Work – Faculty of Social Sciences – DTS – University of the Republic

Uruguay

Unintended effects of social benefits: indebtedness of vulnerable sectors in credit systems in Montevideo

This ruling is irrevocable and cannot be appealed.

Buenos Aires, August 5, 2022