La historia y su conocimiento en América Latina. Algunos desafíos del presente y del futuro

Abstract

This article, conceived as a commentary on Enrique Ayala Mora’s text “Uses of the Past and Latin American History”, reflects on the social function of history and the tensions between history and memory from a Latin American perspective. Building on the axes proposed by Ayala, it examines the current challenges of the historian’s craft: the social utility of historical knowledge, the political uses of the past, and the teaching and dissemination of history. The paper revisits classical debates on the public value of history and connects them with contemporary phenomena such as the growing distance between professional historians and public conversation, as well as the marginalization of the humanities within educational systems. It also analyzes the political uses of history by governments of different ideological orientations and the memorial disputes that traverse Latin American societies.

This article, conceived as a commentary on Enrique Ayala Mora’s text “Uses of the Past and Latin American History”, reflects on the social function of history and the tensions between history and memory from a Latin American perspective. Building on the axes proposed by Ayala, it examines the current challenges of the historian’s craft: the social utility of historical knowledge, the political uses of the past, and the teaching and dissemination of history. The paper revisits classical debates on the public value of history and connects them with contemporary phenomena such as the growing distance between professional historians and public conversation, as well as the marginalization of the humanities within educational systems. It also analyzes the political uses of history by governments of different ideological orientations and the memorial disputes that traverse Latin American societies.