Sir James Chadwick Dunkerley (born 15 August 1953)

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

is Professor of Politics at

Queen Mary, University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London. Today, ...

, and the former Director of the

Institute for the Study of the Americas The Institute for the Study of the Americas (ISA) was established in 2004 following a merger of the Institute of Latin American Studies and the Institute of United States Studies. ISA formed part of the University of London’s School of Advanc ...

and the

Institute of Latin American Studies The Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) was one of nine research institutes that comprised the School of Advanced Study at the University of London. It was located in the landmarked Senate House building in Bloomsbury, central London. F ...

of the University of London. He has written extensively on

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, and elsewhere in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and was the editor of the

Journal of Latin American Studies The ''Journal of Latin American Studies'', established in 1969, is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press. The Institute of Latin American Studies of the University of London houses the journal's editorial and ad ...

. Further, he has been on the editorial boards of

Government and Opposition ''Government and Opposition'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal on politics. It was published by Wiley-Blackwell until 2013, when it switched to Cambridge University Press. The journal was established in 1965 and the editors-in-chief ...

and ''Norteamérica''. He has served as

Andrés Bello Andrés de Jesús María y José Bello López (; November 29, 1781 – October 15, 1865) was a Venezuelan Humanism, humanist, diplomat, poet, legislator, philosopher, educator and philologist, whose political and literary works constitute a ...

Professor of Latin American Culture and Civilization at New York University and is a Fellow of the Academy Social Sciences and the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

. Dunkerley was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.

Early life and education

James Dunkerley was born in

Wokingham Wokingham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is the main administrative centre of the wider Borough of Wokingham. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 38,284 and the wider built-up area had a populati ...

and spent his early education at

Abingdon School Abingdon School is an independent day and boarding school in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. It is the List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, twentieth oldest Independent School (UK), independent British school. In May 202 ...

, a boarding school outside of

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He then went on to study Modern History at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

between 1971 and 1974. Upon counseling by his professor and mentor Gwyn Alf Williams, Dunkerley pursued an

MPhil A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at least ...

in Latin American Studies and a

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

at the University of Oxford's

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a Ford (crossing), ford on ...

and Nuffield

colleges A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary education, tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding academic degree, degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further educatio ...

, citing then-professors

Isaiah Berlin Sir Isaiah Berlin (6 June 1909 – 5 November 1997) was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Although he became increasingly averse to writing for publication, his improvised lectures and talks ...

Leszek Kolakowski Leszek () is a Slavic Polish male given name, originally ''Lestko'', ''Leszko'' or ''Lestek'', related to ''Lech'', ''Lechosław'' and Czech ''Lstimir''. Individuals named Leszek celebrate their name day on June 3. Notable people bearing the n ...

, and Charles Taylor as pivotal influences.

Publications

* ''The Long War. Dictatorship and Revolution in El Salvador''. London: Junction Books, 1982. * ''Rebellion in the Veins. Political Struggle in Bolivia, 1952-1982''. London: Verso, 1984. * ''Orígenes del Poder Militar en Bolivia. Historia del Ejército, 1879-1935''. La Paz: Quipus Editores/Plural, 1987/2003. * ''Power in the Isthmus. A Political History of Modern Central America''. London: Verso, 1988. * ''Political Suicide in Latin America and Other Essays''. London: Verso, 1992. * ''The Pacification of Central America. Political Change in the Isthmus, 1987-93''. London: Verso, 1994. * * (co-edited with

Victor Bulmer-Thomas Victor Bulmer-Thomas CMG OBE is a British academic who has specialised in Latin America and the Caribbean. Born in London, his first experience of the Americas was as a V.S.O. in Belize (1966/7), where he taught several of the future leaders of ...

) ''The United States and Latin America. The New Agenda''. ILAS, The

David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies Founded in 1994 by then-President Neil L. Rudenstine and alumnus David Rockefeller, the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) is an inter-faculty initiative of Harvard University, with offices in Cambridge, Brazil, Chile, and ...

, and Harvard UP, 1999. * ''Americana: The Americas in the World, around 1850''. London: Verso, 2000. * ''Warriors and Scribes: Essays on the History and Politics of Latin America''. London: Verso, 2000. * ''Studies in the Formation of the Nation-State in Latin America''. London: ILAS, 2002. * (co-edited with Maria D'Alva Kinzo) ''Brazil since 1985: Economics, Politics and Society''. London: ILAS, 2003. * ''Bolivia: Revolution and the Power of History in the Present''. London: ISA, 2007. * ''Crusoe and his Consequences''. New York: OR Books, 2019.

Footnotes

External links

Profile in Queen Mary, University of London

Latin Americanists Historians of Latin America Academics of Queen Mary University of London Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford Alumni of the University of York Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Abingdon School People from Wokingham 1953 births {{UK-academic-bio-stub