I am a student of world politics with a passion for social and political theory. Presently the following research topics occupy my waking time:

The study of memory and identity. I argue in some of my most recent work that memory, what I remember about myself and others, is a primary political category that has remained largely undertheorized in the field of International Relations. By primary I mean that it is essential to the constitution of my self and to understanding what I, as a human being, do in the world.The constitution of my self is my identity, a changing social condition that allows me to think of myself as one in the world, if not always, or not often enough, one of the world.

I happen to think that memories are highly and primordially constitutive of our discursive practices and therefore of everything that is social and political about us. Thus, my voyage begins here. This voyage is a life's journey towards a land that I have called for economy "historical constructivism", a term with which I would like to acknowledge my indebtedness to the pioneering work of Nicholas Onuf.

Although all labels are problematic, historical constructivism conveniently merges in a name the thrust of my argument, which is that memories, personal and collective, are at the heart of our ability to act socially and to have selves. Without our memories, we cease to be. Without our words, we have a very hard time representing ourselves in the different social milieus where we wish to be recognized as competent actors. Since human beings always have to be someone when they act socially, who they are depends largely on who they recall that they have been and who they wish to be in the future. Time shifting indeed.

Cultural Politics and democratic governance issues in the context of globalization.

The Politics of the European Union: institutional flows and structure, the formation and exercise of power within the evolving institutional framework of the EU; the EU's relationship with Latin america.

Information Technology Standards and Open Source Software. 

 

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What you find in this site is a small sample of my published work and drafts of ongoing research that will be updated as time permits. If you have written a review of my published work, please consider making a copy available to me or providing a link in the case of online journals and magazines.

Please do not review or cite unpublished work without my consent. I will however appreciate a constructive critique of ongoing work. If you are interested in helping in this manner, email me to have the latest draft sent to you.