INCIHUSA   20883
INSTITUTO DE CIENCIAS HUMANAS, SOCIALES Y AMBIENTALES
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
capítulos de libros
Título:
The diplomatic competition between Chile and Brazil for the institutionalization of Latin-American social sciences
Autor/es:
BEIGEL, FERNANDA
Libro:
The politics of academic dependency in Latin America
Editorial:
Ashgate
Referencias:
Lugar: London; Año: 2012; p. 65 - 83
Resumen:
Several studies (Devés Valdés, 2004; Garretón, 2005; García, 2005) have found that the exceptional stability of Chile’s political system favoured its international opening –all of which was stimulated by the growth of an important reformist movement and a modernizing state. Concerning culture, however, Chile didn’t seem to be capable of regional leadership. A historical comparison shows that Brazil, Argentina or México had dynamical metropolis ready to provide the basis for internationalization of education and science. Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and México DF had higher cultural indicators and well-developed publishing markets, while Chile only had an incipient graphic industry. Moreover, foreign scholars who lived in Santiago at the time describe it as a small, ‘provincial’ city, with poor cultural life. As we mentioned above, during the postwar cold war period, Chile’s government was focused on anticommunist domestic politics and interamericanism –it didn’t ratify UNESCO’s Constitution until 1954. Meanwhile, Brazil played a leading cultural role and gained significant power within UNESCO, in a great due to the struggle against racism, because this country was supported by intellectual groups as a “counter-example” of the United States (Chor Maio, 2007).. Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and México DF had higher cultural indicators and well-developed publishing markets, while Chile only had an incipient graphic industry. Moreover, foreign scholars who lived in Santiago at the time describe it as a small, ‘provincial’ city, with poor cultural life. As we mentioned above, during the postwar cold war period, Chile’s government was focused on anticommunist domestic politics and interamericanism –it didn’t ratify UNESCO’s Constitution until 1954. Meanwhile, Brazil played a leading cultural role and gained significant power within UNESCO, in a great due to the struggle against racism, because this country was supported by intellectual groups as a “counter-example” of the United States (Chor Maio, 2007). An active Chilean Comission for Intellectual Cooperation was created in the 1930s and it built a national network of 38 bilateral institutes of culture to administrate scholarships that increased significantly the international circulation of Chilean students and scholars. This comission centralized inter-cultural cooperation –at first mainly with France, and by the end of the second war, increasingly with the US. Even when Chile signed the UNESCO agreement lately, this well-trained Chilean delegation was able to compete for conducting the Organization’s scientific and educational initiatives in the Southern Cone, making a contribution for the project on East-West understanding. As we shall see, concerning social sciences it was pretty successful. An empirical study of the higher education system during the 1950s shows that the Chilean academic field was increasingly proffesional and the public support for scientific research augmented sustainedly. During this decade, specialized public agencies conducted the process of internationalization and drained funds from diverse origins (Beigel, 2008).In this CHAPTER I intend to explore the changing regional role played by Chile, in order to make a contribution to the understanding of the links between social sciences and politics in the cold war. I adress the internationalization of social sciences in Latin America and the different role played by two “peripheric centers”, Brazil and Chile, pointing out a set of changes occurred by mid 1960s and their impact in the regional distribution of power. I describe the tensions between two institutions sponsored by UNESCO, the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), created at Santiago, and the Latin American Research Center on Social Sciences (CLAPCS), simultaneously founded in Rio de Janeiro. Finally, I revisit the case of Project Camelot (1964-1965) as a keynote to understand the particular politization developed in international organisms during the cold war. I expect that this glimpse into the UNESCO’s history in the Southern Cone will provide a contribution to explore the hinge between the history of diplomacy and the history of science.