Email: jusionyte@fas.harvard.edu 

Dr Ieva Jusionyte is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Latin American Studies at the University of Florida, where she directs the Crime, Law, and Governance in the Americas program. She has a B.A. in Political Science and International Relations, Cum Laude from Vilnius University, an M.A. in Anthropology from Brandeis University and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Brandeis University. Since 2008, Dr Jusionyte has conducted ethnographic research in the border region of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. She has written extensively on Paraguay focusing on themes such as security, crime and violence, borders, governance, and the state.

Email: magui@sociales.uba.ar

Dr Magdalena López is an Argentinean researcher working at CONICET (National Scientific and Technical Research Council – Argentina). She directs the Group of Social Studies on Paraguay (Grupo de Estudios Sociales sobre Paraguay-GESP) at the Institute of Latin American and Caribbean Research, University of Buenos Aires (UBA, Argentina). She has a PhD in Social Science from UBA and she studied Political Science at the same university. She developed two areas of studies: Democracies and Dictatorships in Latin-America and Migration and Electoral Rights of Migrants, both specializing in the state of Paraguay. Additionally, she analyses the continuity between the dictator and the democracy in the oppressive system and the organization of different institutions in Paraguay. She has specialized in Paraguay since 2007, and she has been awarded UNFPA prize for her works about migration and human rights. She also has extensive connections with organizations and various migrant groups in Argentina who originated from border countries.

Email: R.A.Nickson@bham.ac.uk

R. Andrew Nickson is Honorary Reader in Public Management and Latin American Development at the International Development Department at the University of Birmingham. He has extensive worldwide experience of teaching, research and consultancy on public administration reform, local governance, decentralisation, and the regulation of privatised public utilities. He had long-term attachment to the Ministry of Economic Planning, Sierra Leone (1974-76) and from 1979-89 was lecturer and Graduate Admissions Officer (1986-89), at the International Development Department. He was advisor to the Nepal Administrative Staff College (1990-91). From 1992-98 directed a European Union regional training program for senior public administrators in Latin America and from 1999-2000 he directed a European Union Project for State Reform in Paraguay. His most recent research has focussed on decentralisation and poverty reduction, private sector participation in urban water supply, and the relationship between language, governance and citizen participation. He is a regular writer for the Economist Intelligence Unit, Oxford Analytica and Jane’s Information Group. He is Associate Expert in Governance, UNDP Regional Service Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean (RSCLAC), Panama and an External Trainer for the United Nations Service Staff College (UNSSC), Turin, Italy and the Commonwealth Secretariat. He has written extensively on Paraguay and was co-editor of The Paraguay Reader (2012).