Juan Esteban Zorzin Rey
International Research Training Group "Between Spaces"
Movements, Actors and Representations of Globalisation
PhD Candidate
Project: “The Conflict of Taxation: Inquiring the Societal Structuring Process of Progressive Tax Reforms. A Case Study of the Uruguayan Frente Amplio Tax Policy (2005-2015)“
14195 Berlin
Education
|
since 2014 |
PhD student in Political Science and Economy at the Institute for Latin American Studies of the Freie Universität Berlin, fellow of the International Research Training Group "Between Spaces" |
|
2009 - 2013 |
Master of Arts (M.A.) in Interdisciplinary Latin American Studies at the Institute for Latin American Studies of the Freie Universität Berlin (Major subjects: political science and developmental economics) |
|
2006 - 2009 |
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in History and Romance Studies at Mannheim University (Major subjects: culture, society, economy) |
Professional experience
|
2011 |
Advisor for politics and economy at the German Embassy in Montevideo |
|
2007 - 2009 |
Student Assistant at the Institute of Modern and Contemporary History of Mannheim University |
"The Conflict of Taxation: Inquiring the Societal Structuring Process of Progressive Tax Reforms. A Case Study of the Uruguayan Frente Amplio Tax Policy (2005-2015)”
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Marianne Braig (FU Berlin)
This research project is situated in the field of political economy and aims to examine the interaction between progressive tax reform processes and socio-political conflict structures in Latin America. The objective of this investigation is to gain novel knowledge about governmental control possibilities on income redistribution policies. Therefore the tax policy of the first two Uruguayan Frente Amplio governments (2005-2015) is used as case study. The Frente Amplio, founded in 1971, is a heterogeneous coalition of political parties ranging from the extreme-left to the center-left of the political spectrum. In2005 the Frente Amplio succeeded for the first time to takeover government and introduced in 2006 an extensive tax reform including a uniform income tax. In the regional context of Latin America, which is marked by social inequality, regressive tax structures and insufficient social spending, the importance of this reform was highlighted by national and international observers. However the income tax reform sparked a fierce debate among the Uruguayans, which led the opposition parties to vote against the reform and promised to revoke it a soon as taking over the government.
An empirical analysis on the processes in this socio-political conflict of taxation will be carried out based on a series of in-depth interviews with members of different Uruguayan societal actors and their agents and combined with a broad media analysis on the debate in the media.
