Unity and Fragmentation in the Social Sciences in Latin America

Abstract

The social sciences were institutionalized in Latin America in a process that was simultaneously national and regional: from the 1950s to 1970s, regionalization paralleled the development of university institutionalization in the major countries of the area. As evidenced by the proliferation of professional organizations, regional centres of education and training, research projects, journals and book series on Latin America, regionalization was a prominent strategy in the search for scientific autonomy in this peripheral part of the world. In this chapter we examine the regionalization process of SSH, its timeline and effects, centring on two dimensions: the internal dimension of science and academia (institutional milestones; the main agents and resources involved in regionalization; research experiences and findings); and another external dimension (book publishing field as a catalyst for the SSH). Our analysis also highlights how regionalization allowed Latin America to be constructed as a topic for thought and research. As part of this construction, a transnational collaborative space formed to foster debates and theoretical formulations of global trends, as evidenced by the works of Raúl Prebisch, Fernando H. Cardoso and Enzo Faletto.