BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH PRODID:-//Telerik Inc.//Sitefinity CMS 15.1//EN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Eastern Standard Time BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=11 TZNAME:Eastern Standard Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250301T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:Eastern Daylight Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:The Law in World Affairs program at the Moynihan Institute of G lobal Affairs presents a virtual talk with Ezequiel González-Ocantos\, pro fessor of comparative and judicial politics at the University of Oxford.\n \nLava Jato\, an unprecedented transnational bribery investigation that st arted in Brazil in 2014 and spread throughout Latin America\, paralyzed ec onomies\, upended elections\, and collapsed governments. What made Lava Ja to possible in a part of the world where impunity for grand corruption is the norm? Why did it expand beyond Brazil and why did prosecutors prove ef fective in some countries but not in others? To answer this question\, our book traces the legacy of reforms that enhanced prosecutors’ structural c apacity to combat white-collar crime. We also show that Lava Jato only bec ame a full-blown anti-corruption crusade where reforms were coupled with i nvestigators’ tactical decision to operate under the umbrella of taskforce s that catalysed legal innovation and aggressive fact-finding. For some me mbers of the elite\, the aggressive and unconventional methods deployed to uncover grand corruption were necessary and perfectly justified. Others s aw dangerous affronts to the rule of law and democracy. Given these contro versies\, we also ask: How did voters in contexts with different levels of partisan polarization and aversion to politicians react to a once-in-a-ge neration attempt to clean politics? Did they instinctively back anti-corru ption or did this zealous and unorthodox form of anti-corruption prove too difficult to support despite the long-standing yearning for a different k ind of politics? Are anti-corruption crusades like Lava Jato capable of bu ilding strong and durable anti-corruption coalitions\, or do anti-corrupti on methods sooner or later become fatally contested? The book is ultimatel y a study of the impact of accountability through criminalization\, one th at dissects the drivers and dilemmas of resolute transparency efforts.Ezeq uiel González-Ocantos \;is professor of comparative and judicial polit ics in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the Unive rsity of Oxford\, and professorial fellow of Nuffield College. He also ser ves as the politics and international relations delegate at Oxford Univers ity Press. In addition to articles in political science\, methodology and socio-legal studies journals\, Ezequiel has published four books with Camb ridge University Press including \;Shifting Legal Visions: Judicial Ch ange and Human Rights Trials in Latin America \;(2016) and \;Prose cutors\, Voters\, and the Criminalisation of Corruption in Latin America&n bsp\;(2023). These books won multiple awards from APSA\, IPSA\, LASA and I SA. His new book\, \;Latin American Polarisations: Factionalism in Cha nging Party Systems\, \;is forthcoming with Oxford University Press. DTEND:20260928T213000Z DTSTAMP:20260828T084104Z DTSTART:20260928T200000Z LOCATION: SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:Prosecutors\, Voters\, and the Criminalization of Corruption in Lat in America: The Case of Lava Jato UID:RFCALITEM639234888643309622 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

The Law in World Affairs program at the Moy nihan Institute of Global Affairs presents a virtual talk with Ezequiel Go nzález-Ocantos\, professor of comparative and judicial politics at the Uni versity of Oxford.\n\n

Lava Jato\, an unprecedented transnational br ibery investigation that started in Brazil in 2014 and spread throughout L atin America\, paralyzed economies\, upended elections\, and collapsed gov ernments. What made Lava Jato possible in a part of the world where impuni ty for grand corruption is the norm? Why did it expand beyond Brazil and w hy did prosecutors prove effective in some countries but not in others?

To answer this question\, our book traces the legacy of reforms that enhanced prosecutors’ structural capacity to combat white-collar crime. We also show that Lava Jato only became a full-blown anti-corruption crusade where reforms were coupled with investigators’ tactical decision to opera te under the umbrella of taskforces that catalysed legal innovation and ag gressive fact-finding.

For some members of the elite\, the aggressi ve and unconventional methods deployed to uncover grand corruption were ne cessary and perfectly justified. Others saw dangerous affronts to the rule of law and democracy. Given these controversies\, we also ask: How did vo ters in contexts with different levels of partisan polarization and aversi on to politicians react to a once-in-a-generation attempt to clean politic s? Did they instinctively back anti-corruption or did this zealous and uno rthodox form of anti-corruption prove too difficult to support despite the long-standing yearning for a different kind of politics? Are anti-corrupt ion crusades like Lava Jato capable of building strong and durable anti-co rruption coalitions\, or do anti-corruption methods sooner or later become fatally contested?

The book is ultimately a study of the impact of accountability through criminalization\, one that dissects the drivers an d dilemmas of resolute transparency efforts.

Ezequiel González-Ocantos \;is professor of comparative and judicial politics in the Department of Politics and International Relatio ns at the University of Oxford\, and professorial fellow of Nuffield Colle ge. He also serves as the politics and international relations delegate at Oxford University Press. In addition to articles in political science\, m ethodology and socio-legal studies journals\, Ezequiel has published four books with Cambridge University Press including \;Shifting Legal V isions: Judicial Change and Human Rights Trials in Latin America \;(2016) and \;Prosecutors\, Voters\, and the Criminalisation of C orruption in Latin America \;(2023). These books won multiple awa rds from APSA\, IPSA\, LASA and ISA. His new book\, \;Latin Americ an Polarisations: Factionalism in Changing Party Systems\, \;is f orthcoming with Oxford University Press.

END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR