LASA/Oxfam America Martin Diskin Memorial Lectureship

About the lectureship

Dr. Martin Diskin was a vital member of the Latin American Studies Association and of Oxfam America. His passion towards the human rights movement and his guidance over grantmaking in Latin America proved to be invaluable. He was fervent about supporting justice and openly criticized the US foreign policy in Central America and Cuba. He demonstrated the value of being informed and strategic advocates. As Raymond Offenheiser remarked “his [was a] prophetic voice in a world so in need of courage and hopeful vision; his commitment to academic rigor in service of humanity.”

The Memorial Lectureship award is given to an outstanding individual who embodies Professor Martin Diskin’s commitment to the combination of activism and scholarship.

This distinguished lectureship was initially made possible by a generous contribution from Oxfam America, an organization committed to grassroots work and one with which Martin Diskin was closely associated.

Call for nominations

The LASA/Oxfam America Martin Diskin Memorial Lectureship is offered at each LASA International Congress to an outstanding individual who combines commitments to activism and scholarship.

Nominations, including self-nominations, are welcome only by LASA Members. A nomination should include a substantive nomination letter; and the nominee's current curriculum vitae, complete mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address. To nominate a candidate, submit these materials no later than October 4, 2024. The award will be announced at the LASA2025 Welcome Ceremony, and the awardee will be publicly honored. In addition, the awardee will present his/her research work in a special panel during the Congress.

Members of the 2025 Committee

Maite de Cea (chair)
Universidad Diego Portales

Rita Segato
Universidade de Brasilia

Cecilia Palmeiro
Universidad Nacional Tres de Febrero

Michael Lazzara
University of California, Davis

María del Rosario Castro Bernardini
Oxfam America

Lectureship history

2024


AWARDEES: Rita Segato (Universidad de Brasilia, Emerita) and Victor Manuel Negrete Barrera (Universidad del Sinú)

2023


AWARDEES: Anthony Bebbington (Clark University and Ford Foundation) and Jenny Pearce (London School of Economics)

2022


AWARDEES: Arturo Escobar (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and Aviva Chomsky (Salem State University)

2021


AWARDEE: Dolores Juliano Corregido (Independent Scholar)

2020


AWARDEE: Irma A. Velásquez Nimatuj (Stanford University)

2019


AWARDEE: José Alberto Idiáquez, SJ (President Universidad Centroamericana, Nicaragua)

2018


AWARDEE: Xavier Albó (CIPCA)

2017


AWARDEE: Daniel Mato (UNTREF-CONICET)

2016


AWARDEE: María Mercedes Olivera Bustamante (Centro de Estudios Superiores de México y Centroamérica)

2015


AWARDEE 1: Lynn Stephen (University of Oregon)

AWARDEE 2: Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui (Universidad Mayor de San Andrés)

2014


AWARDEE: Alberto Olvera (Universidad Veracruzana)

2013


AWARDEE: Stefano Varese (University of California/Davis)

2012


AWARDEE: Dr. Claudia Paz y Paz Bailey (Instituto de Estudios Comparados y Ciencias Penales)

Focus: Criminal Law Specialist, scholar, judge and litigator

2010


AWARDEE: Carlos Ivan Degregori Caso (Instituto de Estudios Peruanos)

2009


AWARDEE: Terry Karl (Stanford University)

2007


AWARDEE: Orlando Fals Borda

2006


AWARDEE: William Leogrande (American University)

2004


AWARDEE: Jonathan Fox (American University)

2003


AWARDEES: Rodolfo Stavenhagen (El Colegio de Mexico) and Rosalva Aida Hernández Castillo (Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social - Mexico)

2001


AWARDEE: Elizabeth Lira Kornfeld (Universidad Alberto Hurtado)

Focus: psycho-therapy/psychology; human rights activist

2000


AWARDEE: Gonzálo Sánchez Gómez (Universidad Nacional de Colombia)

Focus: political violence in Colombia

1998


AWARDEE: Ricardo Falla

Focus: the impact of military violence on Guatemalan indigenous communities