Lisa Zanotti
Comparative political scientist.
Far-right and democratic resilience in Europe and Latin America.
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS · POLITICAL ADVISORY · MIXED METHODS
About
Short Bio
I'm a comparative political scientist based at Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, and an associate researcher at Ultra-Lab, the Laboratory for the Study of the Far Right in Santiago de Chile.
My research focuses on the far right, populism, and democratic backsliding in Europe and Latin America. It sits at the intersection of party politics, discourse analysis, and computational text methods — I'm especially interested in how far-right movements adapt their messaging across different institutional contexts, and what that erosion of language means for democratic institutions before any policy changes.
Before CEU, I held positions at Diego Portales University in Santiago de Chile. I've published with Cambridge University Press, Routledge, and leading political science journals, and I have written commissioned analyses for foundations including the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, FEPS, and CLACAI. I take on selected applied projects in this area.
I'm a regular commentator in European and international media on far-right politics in Europe and Latin America.
Research
Selected Publications
The Far Right in Latin America
C. Rovira Kaltwasser, C. Meléndez, T. Tanscheit & L. Zanotti (eds.)
Cambridge University Press
Open Access — download PDF
Two Faces of FascismForthcoming
L. Zanotti & C. Meléndez
Cambridge University Press
VOX: The Rise of the Spanish Populist Radical Right
J. Rama, L. Zanotti, S. Turnbull-Dugarte & A. Santana
Routledge, 2021
Where to Find Me Next
If you'll be there and would like to meet in person, feel free to get in touch.
Advisory & Policy Work
Research-Driven Advisory
Alongside my academic work, I take on selected applied projects for foundations, campaigns, and policy organisations working on democratic resilience, far-right monitoring, and the intersection with human-rights agendas. Past commissioned work includes projects for the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, FEPS, and CLACAI.
Organizations I've worked with
Additional research funders and academic partners include the Open Society Foundation, Ultra-lab, Diego Portales University, Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID-CHILE), the British Academy, the CEU Democracy Institute.
Media & Talks
Latest Press
Latest Press & Interviews
Dos, tres, muchos Bukeles
NewestLo Que Importa · Daniel Matamala, Chile
América Latina: ¿la nueva derecha es un bloque o un espejismo?
FRANCE 24 Español, Francia
La 'bukelización' de América Latina: la victoria de De la Espriella confirma el giro a la ultraderecha de la región
RTVE, España
9 países en dos años: la nueva conversión ultra de América Latina
elDiario.es, España
Latin America's resurgent right notches another win in Colombia
AFP, Francia · syndicated in Barron's, France 24, Buenos Aires Times
L’Amérique latine, cet autre terreau des droites radicales
Sur le fil · AFP Audio, Francia
El auge de la ultraderecha y la encrucijada de la derecha convencional en Chile
CIPER Chile, Chile
Jara y Kast disputarán balotaje en Chile: ¿quién parte con ventaja?
RPP, Perú
Off the Clock
What I'm Into in Real Life
Italian by birth, intellectually formed between Bologna, Buenos Aires, Leiden, and Santiago de Chile — which probably explains why everything I write ends up being comparative whether I want it or not.
I support Fiorentina, mostly as an exercise in patience and a personal pedagogy of disappointment management.
Currently Reading
🇦🇷 Patricio Pron, Lo que está y no se usa nos fulminará
Literatura Random House
🇬🇧 Simon Sebag Montefiore, Young Stalin
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Books read in 2026(3)
- 🇬🇧 Florence Knapp, Los nombres
- 🇰🇷 Han Kang, Actos humanos
- 🇬🇧 Mohsin Hamid, Exit West
Contact
Work with me
Advisory / commissioned work
For organisations, foundations, campaigns, civic actors, policy teams, think tanks, media organisations, research teams, and other professional actors interested in paid advisory work, expert briefings, commissioned reports, trainings, monitoring, corpus analysis, or research-based political analysis.
Submit an advisory requestGeneral contact
For students, academic colleagues, journalists seeking short comments, invitations, and non-commercial enquiries.
General contact