Matthias vom Hau
Associate Professor
Academic Research Coordinator
ETHNICGOODS project, ERC
Contact data
Biography
A sociologist by training, Matthias has a PhD (2007) from Brown University and previously held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Manchester. He has also been a visiting researcher at Princeton University, the Freie Universität and the Humboldt Universität in Berlin, the Universidad de San Martín (UNSAM) and Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) in Buenos Aires, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), and the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (IEP) in Lima.
Matthias’ research is centrally concerned with the relationship between identity politics, institutions, and development, with a comparative-historical focus on Latin America. He has published widely on how states construct a sense of national belonging, how civil society actors negotiate and contest official nationalisms, and the extent to which ordinary citizens subscribe to official and counter-state identity projects. A second line of research explores the rise and consequences of indigenous movements in Latin America and beyond, while his third line of work corrects for the fundamentally ahistorical approach that underpins the supposedly negative relationship between ethnic diversity and public goods provision.
With the support of:
Background and education
- (2007) PhD, Brown University
- (2000) BA, Humboldt Universität Berlin
Awards
- 2019. European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant
- 2016. Editorial Best Paper Award by Comparative Political Studies (CPS)
- 2016. Ramón y Cajal Research Grant, Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (July 2016– December 2020).
- 2007. Joukowsky Family Foundation Outstanding Dissertation Award (Brown University)
Professional memberships & affiliations
- American Political Science Association (APSA): Sections on Comparative Politics and Qualitative and Mixed Methods
- American Sociological Association (ASA): Sections on Comparative and Historical Sociology, Political Sociology and Sociology of Development
- Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism (ASEN)
- Latin American Studies Association (LASA)
- Research Associate, Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Centre (ESID)
Research
Research interests
- Comparative politics
- Political Sociology
- Historical Sociology
- International Development
- Nationalism
- Ethnic Politics
- Social Movements
- States and State Formation
- Land governance
- Qualitative Research
IBEI Research Clusters
Research projects
- States, Nationalism, and the Relationship between Ethnic Diversity and Public Goods Provision (ETHNICGOODS) (Coordinator | Researcher)
Selected publications
- 2023.No taxation without informational foundation: on the role of legibility in tax state development.Journal of Institutional Economics,19(3):426-443Link
- 2022.Political Settlements and Development: Theory, Evidence, and Policy.New York:Oxford University Press.Link
- 2021.No Taxation Without Informational Foundation: On The Role Of Legibility In Tax State Development.WIDER Working Paper,117-4Link
- 2021.Bridging Regionalism and Secessionism: Territorial Autonomy Movements in the Iberian World.Cambridge University Press: Nationalities Papers,1 - 20Link
- 2020.Beyond Institutions: Political Settlements Analysis and Development.IBEI Working Papers,2020/56.Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals.Link
- 2020.Textbooks, Postcards, and the Public Consolidation of Nationalism in Latin America.Qual Sociol,43:515–542Link
- 2018.Inculcating Populist Nationalism? Education and Ideological Change in Venezuela.In:
F. López-Alves; D.E. Johnson (Eds)
.Populist Nationalism in Europe and the Americas.London:Routledge. - 2018.The Political Mediation of Indigenous Land Conflicts in Argentina.In:
Rami Zurayk, Eckart Woertz and Rachel Bahn, (eds)
.Crisis and Conflict in Agriculture.Wallingford, UK:CAB International,pp: 261-275.Link - 2017.Transforming the Nation? The Bolivarian Education Reform in Venezuela.Journal of Latin American Studies,Link