Wilin Buitrago Arias

Research

Wilin’s research focuses on comparative political development, with a particular emphasis on party-building, institutional change, and democratisation after civil conflict. His doctoral thesis, Party-building after Civil Conflict: Insurgent Successor Parties in Latin America, examines how former insurgent groups navigate the transition to competitive electoral politics and the mechanisms by which they are more or less successful in party-building processes. His broader research interests include collective political violence, electoral behaviour, party politics and the role of civil society in peace processes. He employs a mixed-methods approach, with advanced training in qualitative analysis and field research in complex, post-conflict environments.

Teaching

Wilin is an experienced tutor and seminar leader in the Department. He has taught extensively for the undergraduate degrees in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE), History and Politics, and Sociology, offering tutorials in:

• Comparative Government (Exeter College, Hertford College, Regent’s Park College)
• Latin American Politics (Hertford College, St Anne’s College, St Edmund Hall)
• Political Sociology (St Anne’s College)
• Comparative Political Economy (Worcester College)
• Prelims Introduction to the Practice of Politics (St Anne’s College)

At the graduate level, he has contributed to seminars on Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods for the Department’s Master’s and DPhil students, focusing on Qualitative Content Analysis and the use of NVivo. He has also been invited to deliver this methodological training at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence. He is also a competent assessor on MAXQDA and ATLAS.ti.

Additional Professional Roles

• Academic Assessor, Ellison Scholars Awards, Ellison Institute of Technology, Oxford (2025-2026).
• Admissions Interviewer for History and Politics and PPE, St Anne’s College, University of Oxford (2023-2026).
• Research Assistant for projects at the Nuffield Centre for Experimental Social Sciences (CESS) and for colleagues within the Department of Politics and International Relations.

External Engagement and Background

Wilin’s research is deeply informed by practical engagement with peacebuilding and political processes in Latin America. Prior to his doctoral and master's studies at Oxford, he worked as a consultant and project design coordinator for a Jesuit Province initiative in Colombia, helping to design a regional platform for reconciliation—work supervised by Francisco de Roux, S.J., who later became President of Colombia’s Truth Commission. He continues to disseminate his research through invited lectures and international conferences, including recent presentations at the University of Parma, the Italian Political Science Association (2024) and his presentation at the ECPR Duisburg Political Parties Working Group Summer School in 2025, a competitive forum that provides detailed feedback from leading field experts on party research, including Thomas Poguntke and Richard Katz.