Cultural platforms during the transitions to democracy in the Southern Cone: New magazines and institutions in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay (1973-1990)

Abstract

This chapter analyses the changes in culture and academic institutions in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay during the dictatorial and post-dictatorial years. Although the transitions to democracy took on different forms in each country, the return to the rule of law was generally accompanied by a cultural and institutional opening, a reconfiguration of the cultural field and academic institutions, and the broadening of the public sphere. This opening entailed a new kind of public insertion for intellectuals, writers, academics and people of culture in general, many of whom had lived in exile during the dictatorship’s most repressive years. Examples of this reconfiguration of the cultural and intellectual fields were the creation of different influential periodical publications. Research institutions and intellectuals that engaged in social, economic and legal sciences also played a crucial role during these transitions. From different perspectives, these magazines and institutions greatly contributed to a decisive debate on legal sciences, democracy and human rights taking place in the Southern Cone during the transitions to democracy in the 1980s and 1990s, by offering spaces for expression and theoretical innovation during a time of instability and uncertainty.