The Observatory on Structures and Institutions of Inequality is a three-year project (2007-2010), hosted by the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Miami, and funded by the Ford Foundation. The Project Director is Dr. Merike Blofield, Assistant Professor of Political Science, and the Graduate Assistant is José Flores, Graduate Student in International Studies.

The goal of this project is to further scholarly understandings of inequality, and to foster an inter-disciplinary and global community of scholars and practitioners. To do this, we focus on three main avenues:

1. An observatory, in the form of a web page, as a portal for informed analyses and exchange on inequality in the region, as the center-piece for this intellectual community


2. Interdisciplinary analysis of inequality by bringing experts from different disciplines and different countries together via workshops, with the goal of two edited volumes, of use to both scholars and practitioners


3. Promoting research on inequality by funding both individual and institutional research on the topic and hosting a working paper series