Fernanda Conforto de Oliveira
Hi, there! Welcome to my website!
I am a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of International History and Politics at the Geneva Graduate Institute and a Senior SNSF Researcher at the University of Lausanne. My research sits at the intersection of international political economy and Latin American modern history, focusing on how sovereign governments negotiate with international financial institutions, the conditions under which support is granted, and the factors shaping both compliance and policy outcomes.
My book project, Opening the Black Box of Financial Negotiations: The IMF, Argentina, and Brazil in the Postwar Era (1945–64) – winner of the Geneva Graduate Institute’s 2025 Pierre du Bois Dissertation Prize and shortlisted for the Economic History Society’s Thirsk–Feinstein Dissertation Prize – reconstructs the IMF’s decision-making process using internal archives and text-as-data methods. Moving beyond standard explanations centered on geopolitics, ideology, and macroeconomic fundamentals, it shows how perceptions, trust, and credibility assessments formed through repeated interactions enter staff and Board evaluations and shape negotiation dynamics, programme approval, and policy outcomes.
Across my work, I combine archival research with quantitative and computational approaches to study international financial governance, sovereign debt and crises, the politics of macroeconomic adjustment, and the comparative political economy of Latin America. My research has received extensive financial support from institutions across Europe, the United States, and Latin America. I earned my PhD from the Geneva Graduate Institute in 2025, have consulted for the IMF, and have held visiting positions at Princeton University and Virginia Tech.
Fernanda Conforto de Oliveira 