Patricio Maffei Gaido
Research, Strategy & Analysis
I study relationships between people, institutions and technologies, from everyday practices to political processes and public decision-making.
My work brings together anthropological research, professional experience in security and public policy, and strategic foresight, with a particular focus on Latin America.
Latest writing
Entre humanos y plantas: rituales, conocimiento y reciprocidad en el cultivo hogareño de cannabis
An ethnography of care, the senses and shared learning in home cannabis cultivation in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area.
How Many Doses Are in a Kilogram of Drugs?
Why the same drug seizure can produce very different figures — and what we need to know before comparing them
Kilograms are measured; doses are estimated. How the same seizure of cannabis, cocaine or MDMA gives different figures depending on the unit chosen, with a calculator.
Índice de cosecha en Cannabis sativa: formulación cuantitativa y análisis de factores de cultivo
Definitions, conversion between fresh and dry mass, and the requirements of a comparable experimental design for the harvest index of Cannabis sativa.
Plan Bandera: respuesta estatal al crimen organizado híbrido en Rosario, Argentina
State coordination, descriptive results and the limits of evaluation in the federal intervention against criminal networks in Rosario, Argentina.
Between research and practice
My career began in political science and international relations, and developed over more than fifteen years across institutional analysis, public policy and security. That experience taught me how public decisions are made and also the difficulties that arise when they are implemented.
Anthropology brought another scale of observation. My doctoral research on cannabis cultivation examines the relationships between people, plants, techniques and regulations, paying attention to knowledge and practices that do not always find a place in institutional categories.
Strategic foresight completes this perspective by adding the study of technological change, emerging trends and future scenarios.
These experiences are not separate activities: they are part of a sustained interest in understanding how social relations are organised, how institutions intervene and how the conditions in which we act change.
Different scales, shared questions
A home grow, a state regulation and an organised crime network present very different problems. Each requires its own sources, methods and tools.
What connects my research is an interest in understanding how relationships are built, what role rules and technologies play, and how people and institutions respond to changing conditions.
I work with ethnography, documentary analysis, applied research and strategic analysis tools. Method depends on the question, not the other way round.
Read, discuss, continue
This site brings together research, essays and working papers that I publish in order to share arguments, examine problems and open new conversations.
If any of these texts relates to your research or work, please get in touch.