Current research projects
Learn more about the current research projects of Junior Professor Dr. Rosario Figari Layus.
“Activists in Exile in an Era of Mass Displacement: Universities as Sites of Protection and Supporters of Agency for Activists from Russia and Myanmar“ (2025-2027)
Together with Prof. Dr. Paul Gready from the University of York, Assistant Prof. Dr. Rosario Figari-Layus has acquired a two-year project “Activists in Exile in an Era of Mass Displacement: Universities as Sites of Protection and Supporters of Agency for Activists from Russia and Myanmar.” in the Gerda Henkel Foundation's “Forced Migration” program. Together with two postdoctoral researchers, the project will examine the role of universities in providing formal and informal support to human rights defenders in exile, with a particular focus on Russian activists in exile in the Czech Republic and Myanmar activists in exile in Thailand.
The rise of populist and authoritarian governments across the globe has led to a dramatic increase in a particular form of forced migration, the flight of human rights defenders (HRDs – used here interchangeably with the term activists) into exile. Crackdowns on civil society in general, and HRDs in particular, are becoming commonplace. Relevant support infrastructures, such as the refugee legal framework and temporary relocation programs, provide responses that are fragmented, partial and ultimately inadequate. The result is that activists in exile risk being demobilized, while domestic civil society is decimated. This matters because these activists, and their organizations, are the foundation not only of resistance to repressive rule now but also of more democratic societies in the future.
Funded by: Gerda Henkel Foundation (2025-2027)
Academic Freedom at risk: Climate Change and Scientific Negationism by Extreme Right Governments in Argentina and Brazil.
In recent years, academic freedom and scientific development have increasingly come under attack from far-right groups and governments—particularly those that deny climate change and undermine scientific research in various regions of the world. Democratically elected governments with authoritarian tendencies pursue common strategies to discredit and restrict science, targeting universities and scholars perceived as critical of their policies or political agendas.
In the Latin American context, the far-right governments of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil (2019–2022) and Javier Milei in Argentina (2023–present) stand out as stark examples of such assaults on academic freedom and scientific progress. In both cases, climate change research and its consequences have been especially at risk, facing both direct attacks and broader political measures that undermine scientific inquiry. These measures are part of a wider discourse that rejects or distorts climate science, contributes to the neglect of environmental protection, and weakens efforts to address the global climate crisis.
The aim of this research project is to document and analyze the specific actions taken by the Bolsonaro and Milei governments that threaten academic freedom and endanger scientific development in the region. In addition, the project examines the political and practical consequences of climate change denial for environmental policy and scientific research in both countries.
Research team: Rosario Figari Layús, Fernando Romani Sales, Paula Aldana Lucero, Maria Fernanda Silva Assis.
Funded by: Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) and Coalition for Academic Freedom in the Americas (CAFA)
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