Matias Dewey

Matias Dewey is an Associate Professor of Latin American Studies at the University of St. Gallen (CLS-HSG). His research focuses on political sociology, economic sociology of illegal markets, sociological theory, and qualitative research methods. He examines topics such as state enforcement dynamics, informal economies, and the interplay between legality and illegality in Latin America.

• Office: Büro 51-7009, Unterer Graben 21, 9000 St. Gallen
• Contact: +41 71 224 2784

His work explores how illegal markets operate, their social organization, and their relationship with state institutions. Key themes include regulatory non-enforcement, fintech’s role in informal economies, and the political economy of law enforcement. Dewey employs ethnographic and qualitative methods to analyze markets like La Salada in Argentina, focusing on issues such as violence management, moral economies, and aspirational consumer behavior.

His publications highlight the socio-political dimensions of informal markets, emphasizing how hybrid social orders emerge from the interaction between state policies and illegal activities. While no scientific awards are explicitly mentioned, his contributions to understanding illegal markets and state dynamics have established him as a leading scholar in economic sociology and Latin American studies.