Tomás Gold

This profile was current as of 2024, when he was part of the on-campus Kellogg community.

I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology and a PhD Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. My research is focused on explaining the dynamic interactions between political parties, social movements, and civil society organizations seeking to generate both cultural and political change, with a particular interest in conservative and free-market advocacy.

In my dissertation project, I aim to explain the main causes behind the transnational expansion and uneven success of free-market and libertarian think tanks in Latin America. To do so, I am conducting in-depth interviews with dozens of think tank leaders across the region, engaging in participant observation during transnational meetings and conferences, and analyzing archival sources related to the development of ties between American and German think tanks and their Latin American counterparts during the last forty years. The project aims to capture the multiple mechanisms by which these organizations promote their agendas for political change and the reasons why they have been able to thrive in some national contexts but not others.

Other current working projects are focused on explaining the political consequences of anti-partisan protests, the digitalization of partisan activism, the rise of right-wing populism in comparative perspective, and the use of narratives of corruption. I am also interested in advancing theoretical discussions surrounding key sociological concepts, such as “repertoire of action” or “mechanism.”

My research has received support from the Social Science Research Council, the Fulbright Commission, Global Affairs Canada, the Argentine National Council of Scientific and Technical Research, and the University of Notre Dame.