About

I am a researcher and analyst with a background in political science, international relations and social anthropology. My work combines over fifteen years of professional experience in public security and policy analysis with academic research on human–plant relations, regulation and multispecies studies.

Since 2012 I have worked at the Ministry of Security of the Argentine Republic, where I have taken part in public policy analysis, the preparation of strategic reports and the development of initiatives on organised crime, drug trafficking, border security and international cooperation.

My academic training began at the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa, where I studied Government and International Relations. I then went on to study for a master’s degree in International Relations and Negotiation at FLACSO and the Universidad de San Andrés.

I am currently a PhD candidate in Social Anthropology at the National University of San Martín (UNSAM), Argentina. My doctoral research explores the relationships between cannabis growers and plants in Buenos Aires. Through ethnography, I study cultivation practices, forms of care, technical knowledge and the regulations involved in these relationships.

This work broadened my interests towards multispecies anthropology, materiality, cultivation technologies and the ways in which institutions classify and regulate social practices.

Alongside my anthropological work, I continue to research public security, organised crime and institutional governance. My interest in strategic foresight stems from the need to bring a perspective on technological change, uncertainty and possible futures. I am currently taking a specialisation in Strategic Foresight at the Universidad de Ciencias Empresariales y Sociales (UCES), supported by a scholarship from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

My academic and professional path does not belong to a single discipline. Political science and international relations allowed me to study institutions; working in public security brought me closer to their practices and limitations; and anthropology led me to observe relationships and experiences that call for other scales of analysis.

I created this website as an independent space for my research, working papers, essays and analytical writing. I want my texts to be able to circulate, be discussed and remain accessible, regardless of whether they are published in external journals or media.

I write mainly in Spanish and English, from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Portrait of Patricio Maffei Gaido