CLACS is developing NEXO, a research platform for Latin America, using a model distinct from other ISP research consortia such as AAP and Asia Hub. NEXO leverages horizontal researcher-to-researcher relationships between MSU faculty and their partners from top institutions in Latin America around themes of shared interest. Flexible and driven by researchers themselves, this network-of-networks model enables collaborating faculty to quickly conceptualize projects, develop proposals, and secure funding to address contemporary challenges. Each member of a thematic network has their own professional networks that include other experts from their home institutions as well as research collaborators across the world, who can be drawn into this initiative as new opportunities emerge and additional forms of expertise are required. To date, CLACS has supported the development of three networks (below). Faculty interested in connecting with one of these networks or launching a new thematic network should contact CLACS Director Laurie Medina (medina(at)msu.edu).

The Amazon and Climate Change

CLACS supported social scientists Emilio Moran (GEO), Maria Claudia Lopez (CSUS), and Nathan Moore (GEO) and biophysical scientist Scott Stark (FOR) and their partners from top Brazilian research institutions to expand and deepen their collaboration through a new project that aims to reverse forest degradation through the development of a sustainable bioeconomy in the Amazon.

Racial and Gender Justice Across the Americas

CLACS is supporting Humanities faculty Leonora Paula (ENG) and Elena Ruiz (PHL, RISC) to lead in building networks that link scholars, artists, and communities working towards racial and gender justice in Black and Indigenous communities in Latin America and the Caribbean with counterparts in Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities in the US.

Counter-Hegemonic Environmental Discourses in Latin American Contexts

In March 2025, CLACS will co-host with Bruno Takahashi (Journalism) a symposium and workshop on counter-hegemonic environmental discourses in Latin American contexts at MSU. Scholars from Latin America and the US will present current research and case studies that highlight current knowledge of the ways environmental discourses shape public policies, social movements and conflicts, funding priorities, behaviors, and decision making in Latin American contexts. Discourses constituted and disseminated across mediated platforms (e.g., news media, social media platforms, community media, strategic communication, etc.) will be the primary focus of analysis.

In workshops following the symposium, the group will consider a key environmental challenge confronting South American countries: The transition to a green economy in rich countries, one characterized by electrification (e.g., electric vehicles), further oppresses marginalized populations in low- and middle-income countries like those in Latin America. The marginalization of those populations is done through both exertion of direct power (e.g., racist policies), and the use of discursive strategies — embedded in post-colonial legacies — that present these populations and the ecosystems which they inhabit as expendable, all in the name of progress and development. Workshop participants will work collaboratively to address this problem by putting a spotlight on the ways in which these oppressive strategies operate, and how our collective research efforts can lead to applications that challenge and change the status quo.

The workshops will work towards several goals: 1) establish a core network of Latin American scholars working in the field of environmental communication; 2) develop a white paper from the conversations during the workshop that outlines research priorities; 3) provide a platform for the development of ideas for collaborative research projects; and 4) identify funding opportunities for research projects and the sustainability of the network.