Research Lines

Research Line I: Institutional Dynamics and Public Policy Evaluation

This research line focuses on issues concerning public policies and their cycle (formulation, implementation, and evaluation). The effectiveness of this cycle is fundamentally related to the systemic performance of the institutions responsible for executing them, with repercussions at various territorial scales. Based on this analytical concept, this line seeks to analyze the institutional dynamics of public policies by first outlining the role and configuration that the State and its apparatus assume in different economic, historical, and cultural contexts. A second aspect addressed is the development of models for public policy analysis and evaluation using both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. Lastly, the line also explores emerging democratic institutionalities, which have gained prominence for including public participation in decision-making and the oversight of public policies.

Research Line II: Education, Science and Technology, and Territorial Development

There is an expectation that strengthening educational and science and technology institutions will positively impact multiple scales of territorial development. Intrinsic dynamics within educational processes—at basic, secondary, vocational, and higher levels—as well as within technological innovation processes, need to be understood to generate greater societal benefits. This line aims to foster studies on experiences within these institutions, especially those related to institutional design and management practices. It also promotes research on the evaluation—general or specific—of institutional programs, their effectiveness, and the search for instruments to improve them.

Research Line III: Public Policies, Rights Promotion, and Territorial Dynamics

This research line proposes a critical analysis of the production, implementation, and evaluation of public policies, as well as their intersections with the production of social life and the promotion of human rights in the territorial dimension. It encompasses the following areas of emphasis:

• a) Study of the values, moralities, and subjectivities involved in governing individuals and populations, as well as the knowledge, technologies, and sciences engaged across various territorial scales;
• b) Promotion of rights and social markers of difference—class, gender, ethnicity, and generation—and their territorial expressions;
• c) Territory and policies as ethnographic categories;
• d) Understanding of territorial dynamics and the cultural logics of individuals and social groups in their interactions with the State and politics;
• e) Public space and participatory democracy within territories.
• f) Socio-territorial inequalities and the promotion of rights.