Gustavo Sorá

Arduous Institutionalization in Argentina’s SSH: Expansion, Asymmetries and Segmented Circuits of Recognition

This chapter reviews the process of institutionalization of the SSH in Argentina, in the tense atmosphere existing between two major public agencies: the CONICET and the National Universities. These two institutions are the main pillars of Argentinian higher education and scientific research. The current state of SSH research capacities is analyzed in terms of personnel and institutes, focusing on institutional inequalities and differences between disciplines. The publishing circuits and the particular role of the SSH in the universe of Argentinean scientific journals are also addressed. Geographic inequalities are shown by highlighting the morphology of eight academic regions. The aim of this work is to assess the recent expansion observable in Argentina’s academic world, along with the reinforcement of the structural heterogeneity of the field.

Translating Western Social and Human Sciences in Argentina: A Comparative Study of Translations from French, English, German, Italian and Portuguese

This chapter analyzes translations made into Spanish in Argentina of Social Sciences and Humanities books between 1990 and 2011. Argentina occupies a doubly peripheral position in the global system of symbolic production. First, its language, Spanish, is peripheral in comparison to English and, although to a lesser extent, to French and German. Second, scientific and cultural geopolitics indicate that the United States and Europe are the main producers and communicators in all areas of scientific output. The decision to focus on translations made in Argentina has been taken not just out of theoretical concerns—margins are key to understanding the centers—but empirical concerns too. Based on the analysis of bibliographical statistical data and of a series of interviews, this study compares translations from French, English, German, Italian and Portuguese. The chapter further explores the system of conditions that leads publishers to prefer certain languages over others, as well as the ways in which the structure and functioning of publishing affect the valuation of the intellectual production of different languages and countries.

Unity and Fragmentation in the Social Sciences in Latin America

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 Raul Prebisch, Fernando H. Cardoso and Enzo Faletto.

Introduction: The Social and Human Sciences in Global Power Relations

Locating the book in the general debate on globalization, the editors present a structural approach to studying the internationalization of the social and human sciences (SHS). They argue that these processes are best conceptualized as structured by power relations on different levels. Various political actors, ranging from national governments to international organizations, have indeed heavily invested in the transnational development of the SHS, in the framework of broader geopolitical struggles. Moreover, the globalizing field of the social and human sciences is marked by an unequal distribution of resources, best described as a core-periphery structure. The book develops these ideas at the institutional, social and intellectual level, on the basis of a variety of empirical studies. Part 1 explores patterns of transnationalization that shape the social and human sciences at the global level. Part 2 examines a particular form of internationalization: transnational regionalization (in the cases of Latin America and Europe). Parts 3 and 4 focus on the circulation of ideas and scholars between respectively North and South, and between West and East.