Comparative Education in Spanish speaking Latin America: Recent developments and future prospects

GOROSTIAGA, JORGE M.; ESPINOZA, OSCAR

Comparative and International Education: Survey of an Infinite Field

Emerald

Año: 2019; p. 79 - 99

In this chapter, the authors analyze the academic field of comparative educationin Spanish speaking Latin America as a contested construction both inepistemological and political dimensions. First, the authors provide a briefhistorical account of the origin and development of comparative educationin the region since the nineteenth century. Next, they focus on the currentstate of the field by addressing three aspects: (1) the institutional basis, speciallythe development of comparative education societies; (2) an accountof the contributions of international organizations, both in terms of studiesthat have been recently conducted and of the development of data bases; and(3) an analysis of prevailing topics as well as theoretical and methodologicalapproaches in a sample of articles published during the 2010-2017 period.The authors conclude by summarizing the main aspects of the current situation,and pointing to future epistemological and political challenges for thefield in the region.