SHORT
BIOGRAPHY
Laura Montoya is an Assistant Professor at The Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. She received her PhD from the Department of Political Science at Northwestern University, where she also completed a Masters in Statistics. She equally has a Master’s in economics from the University of Los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. She works on comparative politics, public policy, and research methodologies. Her research explores economic inequalities in Latin America and its relations with development and violence. Currently, she is writing a book entitled “Escaping Inequality Traps: State Formation, Elites, and the Myth of Progress”, in which she identifies the causes of economic inequality traps -i.e., high and persistent levels of economic inequality- in the region and explains why and how some countries manage to escape such traps and embark on paths of diminishing inequality.
SHORT
BIOGRAPHY
Laura Montoya is an Assistant Professor at The Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. She received her PhD from the Department of Political Science at Northwestern University, where she also completed a Masters in Statistics. She equally has a Master’s in economics from the University of Los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. She works on comparative politics, public policy, and research methodologies. Her research explores economic inequalities in Latin America and its relations with development and violence. Currently, she is writing a book entitled “Escaping Inequality Traps: State Formation, Elites, and the Myth of Progress”, in which she identifies the causes of economic inequality traps -i.e., high and persistent levels of economic inequality- in the region and explains why and how some countries manage to escape such traps and embark on paths of diminishing inequality.
CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROJECT
Laura explores the political economy of land restitution in Colombia, focusing on the conflict stemming from the ethnic land restitution program and mining activities. She researches ethnic land restitution to show how the government favours mining extraction over land restitution by adding layering and reinterpreting original policy goals. Thus, her research explores administrative proceedings and judicial decisions within extractivism contexts.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Botero, S., García-Montoya, L., Otero-Bahamon, S. and Londono-Mendez, S. “Colombia 2022: Del fin de la guerra al gobierno del cambio”, Revista Ciencia Política, 43, 2, (2023): 223-254. VIEW PUBLICATION
García -Montoya, L. and Manzi, P. “From Economic to Political Power: Economic Elites and Policymaking During Times of Crisis”, Journal of Politics in Latin America, 15, 2, (2023): 138-167. VIEW PUBLICATION
García -Montoya, L. and Mahoney, J. “Critical Event Analysis in Case Study Research”, Sociological Methods & Research, 52, 1, (2023): 480-524. VIEW PUBLICATION
García -Montoya, L., Arjona, A. and Lacombe, M. “Violence and Voting in the United States: How School Shootings Affect Elections”, American Political Science Review, 116, 3, (2021): 807–826. VIEW PUBLICATION
Mahoney, J. and García -Montoya, L. “Critical Event Analysis”, In: Mahoney. J (ed.). The Logic of Social Science, Princeton: Princeton University Press (2021): 269-294 VIEW PUBLICATION