Tasha Fairfield

Tasha Fairfield is a Full-time Professor at the European University Institute's Department of Political and Social Sciences, having joined in September 2025 after moving from the London School of Economics. She holds a Ph.D. in political science from UC Berkeley, an M.A. in Latin American studies, and an M.S. in physics from Stanford University.

Her research focuses on the political economy of inequality, business-state relations in Latin America, and the application of Bayesian methods to qualitative research. She convenes the Qualitative Bayesian Reasoning Network for scholars interested in employing Bayesian methods. Her current research interests include the distributive politics of climate change.

Her publications have appeared in top journals including Political Analysis, Comparative Political Studies, and Perspectives on Politics. Her methodological work bridges traditional divides in political science methodology through the application of Bayesian probability to qualitative evidence.

• APSA-QMMR David Collier Mid-Career Achievement Award (2024)
• Donna Lee Van Cott Award for best book on Latin American political institutions (2016)
• Sage Best Paper Award, Qualitative and Multi-Method Research Section (2017)
• LSE Excellence in Education Awards (2023, 2019)

Before arriving at EUI, Fairfield was an associate professor at LSE, a Hewlett Fellow at Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Notre Dame's Kellogg Institute. Her research has been supported by the Social Science Research Council, Fulbright-Hays, and the International Centre for Tax and Development.