Daniel Chavez Knowledge Hub Researcher

Our people — Staff member

Former TNI fellow, Daniel earned his PhD in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2001, subsequently joining TNI as a staff member.

Daniel Chavez

Contact Daniel Chavez

Telephone
+ 31 20 662 66 08

Daniel cut his activist teeth at the United Federation of Mutual Aid Housing Cooperatives (FUCVAM) in Uruguay where he worked for almost a decade prior to coming to the Netherlands to study. He then joined TNI as co-ordinator of an Energy Project in 2001, looking at democratic and participatory alternatives to electricity privatisation in the Global South. He has accumulated considerable knowledge in this field, one in which he continues to work as part of TNI’s Public Alternatives Programme. He also developed a line of work at TNI on democratising public enterprises more broadly, over the course of the years with this work coming together primarily in the energy sector. In 2018, he published his most recent co-authored book Repensar lo público.: Estado, sociedad y servicios básicos en América Latina (Icaria, 2018).

A scholar-activist with a strong commitment to progressive Latin America, and a keen interest in participatory democracy, Daniel also helped build a New Politics project within TNI from 2002 with a strong focus on participatory democracy. From these efforts, he produced a book The Left in the City: Progressive and Participatory Local Governments in Latin America (Latin American Bureau, 2004) and in Spanish as La izquierda en la ciudad (Icaria, 2004). As the popularity of the left project in Latin America carried the pink tide, Daniel produced The New Latin American Left: Utopia Reborn (TNI, 2008) and in Spanish as Nueva Izquierda En America Latina (Catarata, 2008). The demise of left governments in Latin America following the fall-out of the 2008 economic crisis, and the disappointments with the European left saw Daniel initiate a new New Politics project in 2017 which tries to learn the lessons of the past.

Areas of expertise:

Latin American politics, energy policies, State-Owned Enterprises, public services, participatory urban planning and governance.

Media experience:

Daniel is a proficient public speaker and master of presentation. @chavezdaniel

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