Fernán Gaillardou
Thesis title: Varieties of left turn: elite structure ant divergent macroeconomic outputs in Argentina and Brazil (2002-2016)
PhD in Sociology
Year of study: 4
Contact details
Background
I am a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Edinburgh (supervised by Tod Van Gunten and Nathan Coombs), where I am researching the political sociology of economic expertise in Latin America.
My academic background combines a BA in Sociology and an MSc in Economic Sociology. In Edinburgh, I strengthened my training in computational methods through advanced coursework and tutoring in computational sociology and network analysis. Prior to beginning my doctoral studies, I served as a technical advisor to the Ministry of Economy in Argentina, an experience that provided me with first-hand exposure to the inner workings of economic policy and the role of expertise within it.
My research draws on this interdisciplinary and practical background. Building on this work, my PhD research explores how political-economic networks shaped divergent growth models in post-2000 Argentina and Brazil. Using social network analysis and in-depth interviews with former high-ranking officials, I aim to understand how elite cohesion, technocratic authority, and institutional embeddedness influence the stability of macroeconomic policy frameworks.
Publications
Articles in peer-reviewed journals:
- Rising from the ashes: the de-technocratization of government economists and the (re)emergence of a heterodox economic network in Argentina (2002-2022), Historical Social Research. DOI: 10.12759/HSR.50.2025.26
Chapters in edited volumes:
- 2017: The economic debate: from consensus to antinomy, in Pucciarelli, A. and Castellani, A. (eds.), Los años del kirchnerismo, Buenos Aires, Siglo XXI, pp. 209–237 (co-authored with Mariana Heredia, in Spanish).
Other articles:
- 2018: Sociology of professions and expertise: recent contributions to the study of specialized intervention, Márgenes, No. 9 (co-authored with Pablo Salas, in Spanish).
- 2016: From justice to necessity: transformations in economic ideas since the dictatorship, Revista Ciencias Sociales, No. 90, pp. 34–39 (co-authored with Mariana Heredia, in Spanish).
Qualifications
BA in Sociology (Universidad de Buenos Aires); MSc in Economic Sociology (Universidad Nacional de San Martín)
Undergraduate teaching
Sociology 2A (2S-2024)(Tutoring)
Social Network Research (1S-2025)(Tutoring)
Postgraduate teaching
Computational Sociology (2S-2024)(Tutoring)
Analysing Social Networks With Statistics (1S-2025)(Tutoring)