Murmis - Social Sciences In Argentina

1 Sociology, Political Science, Anthropology: Institutionalization, Professionalization and Internationalization in Argentina1 Miguel Murmis 1. Introduction The full institutionalization of Sociology, Political Science and Anthropology and their later development in Argentina has been a discontinuous process, strongly marked by political changes. These political changes often represented breaks in political institutional life. Activities in the Social Sciences have been also attuned to struggles in Universities, such as those that occurred when private universities were established. More generally, our sciences were always connected to political trends prevailing among students and professors frequently conducive to strong confrontations. International links and financial contributions received varied local responses and contributed also a heavy quota of conflict and discontinuity. Differences in disciplinary orientations have often become the source of harsh and sometimes destructive conflicts. If the general process we will present has been marked by discontinuities, these start with the relation between the institutionalized disciplines and the disciplinary activities that preceded them. The sign of discontinuity presided over the whole gamut of activities

1

The following text is based upon the experiences and knowledge of the author. As student representative, I participated in the creation of the first Sociology Program in 1957. Since then I have been connected to the field of sociology and of the social sciences. The elaboration of these experiences and information was enriched and supplemented by my work with the texts included in the Bibliography, Thus, the bibliography includes only texts about the process studied and not works by the original social scientists considered, excepting texts about the process itself. No theoretical, comparative or general historical texts are included. An effort was made to check the accuracy of the references I make in the text. Some supplementary statistical information was utilized as well as information gathered in interviews. This means that my text is not strictly a result of a process of scientific sociological research. This study was made possible by a generous invitation of the Maison des Sciences de l´Homme and by the support and contributions of the colleagues participating in our team as well as by other colleagues who engaged in intellectual dialogue with us during our Parisian stay. These contributions and dialogues played a significant role in the development of a theoretical and comparative framework for our collective work.

2 covering fields as dissimilar as the theoretical and methodological orientations utilized and the organizational set ups being established. Our sciences were established and developed within this framework. Perhaps their capacity to grow and generate achievements is a response to the challenge imposed by the dual threat of conflict and discontinuity. Thus, institutionalization has not been the culminating point of a linear process of civilization-like evolution, creating the conditions for the establishment of the social sciences. It was not an automatic outgrowth of more advanced levels of social development. It has been a process of resurgence and expansion that kept repeating itself through sometimes destructive experiences. In the final analysis, we see that there is a constant growth, a quantitative expansion that brings to the fore the question of quality in teaching and research. Although there were strong national reasons for the emergence of the institutionalized forms, it is clear that the ghost of the social sciences was already traveling through Europe and Latin-America, fuelled by the American model. France2 establishes its first undergraduate program one year after the Argentine one, while it took Italy, a late starter, a few more years. Not too long after the Argentine first program, formal undergraduate program are established in several countries, such as the ones covered in our Project. The establishment of undergraduate programs emerges as a combination of scientific concerns and of an intense interest in national politics and social problems. The first University Program in Sociology was created in 1957 as an expression of Illuminist beliefs, with the strong motivation of showing to the whole country and especially to the working class what was the true nature and condition of national society. They felt that this mission was made possible by the possession of a social science capable of dispelling the emotional illusion that were the basis of the persistent and massive devotion to Peronism. As many Illuminist endeavors, this endeavor is associated to a historical change in which arms and violence have a significant say. From that time on, reality and projects changed, got diversified and many times displaced each other.

2

Sainsaulieu, Renaud (1988) ;Orvieto Pinto, (1976) ; Germani (1959).

3 We will now present the process of institutionalization and professionalization of three social sciences, i.e. sociology, anthropology and political science. We will distinguish three time periods, preceded by a short consideration of disciplinary activities previous to the attainment of full institutionalization and consequent professionalization. 1.

1955-1966 Institutionalization and its problems: breaks, continuity and projection towards the future in a context of military coups and illegitimate elected governments

2.

1966-1983 Break with the past and responses: repression and social struggles in the context of military coups and of a popular government..

3.

1983-2003 Expansion and problems of quality in a context of elected governments.3

2. Early Disciplinary Work The beginnings of these disciplines and their early forms of partial institutionalization appear in the academic field through the growing establishment of university chairs.4 Together with the growing activity of University chairs, we have to pay attention to a second type of activity, linked to the contributions of important studies carried out outside the academic milieu. Most of these studies were conducted by technicians working for state organizations and also by independent scholars committed to the study of national society. A third form of contact with disciplinary problems derived from political, interpretive and even literary works. In Sociology, the first chair was established in 1889 in the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras of the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA). This was the first chair in Sociology in Latin America. One year after it is established it is discontinued and reappears three years later. Afterwards, chairs are well established in different Schools and Universities. These chairs and even the Institutes that are created later on concentrate their work in the study of general theories about society.5 The products of these activities are destined to satisfy teaching requirements. By the end of this period there is a failed attempt at establishing a 3

The general synthesis presented separately in this volume offers more detailed information about historical events. 4 J.C.Agulla (1996); A.Poviña (1945); E.Zimmerman (1994); R.Levene (1947) 5 H.González Bollo (1999)

4 working relationship with the American Sociological Association.6 During this period Gino Germani initiates some small empirical projects at the UBA, and also offers Sociology lectures in a private association (the CLES) congregating intellectuals displaced form the University by the Peronist government.7 The other approaches to the knowledge of society that we mentioned above are richer and more productive. Technicians hired by the National Government, such as Juan Bialet Massé and Juan Niklison publish studies about the condition of the workers and the predicament of the aboriginal peoples. Their studies are based on carefully conducted fieldwork. At the beginning of the 20th.century, an independent intellectual, José Ingenieros, publishes studies about labor regulations and other aspects of labor conditions, later included in a book entitled Sociología Argentina. He engages in a lively polemics with another early analyst, José María Ramos Mejía8, author of a book on the masses in Argentine History. During the 30´s Carlos O..Bunge, an economist, publishes “La Nueva Argentina”, a book assembling a variety of statistical data. About a decade later, this book served as one of the bases of Gino Germani´s analyses9. As for the contributions closer to political life, we have to mention that political struggles and even literature become mobilized by the discussions about the social question, a lively topic since the final part of the 19th century. A feverish concern with social reform, gives rise to proposals and also to vibrant criticism from both the right and the left. Literary works start describing the world of poverty, the problems of migrants and the crises in the middle class, as it is the case with the plays of Florencio Sánchez. In the case of Anthropology, in 1932 there were seven centers already connected to the international scene through the Congresos de Americanistas of 1912 and 1932. In the city of La Plata there was a Museum of Anthropology with a strong commitment to Physical Anthropology. National and foreign specialists were active in the museum, which was directed for a long period by the German specialist Robert Lehmann-Nitsche.10

6

H.González Bollo & D.Pereyra (2003) F.Neiburg (1995), H.González Bollo (1999) 8 González s/d, González (2000) 9 J.C.Agulla (1996), G.Germani (1968) 10 S.Bilbao (2002); R.Guber y S. Visacovsky (2000) 7

5 In the case of Political Science, at the beginning of the 20th.Century there was a general prevalence of the formalistic approach, dominant in Law Schools. Toward 1930, there appear some studies of political actors. These studies are made by independent intellectuals. Two developments in the area indicate that it also existed a vigorous intellectual atmosphere. Firstly, the Revista Argentina de Ciencia Política was published in Buenos Aires between 1910 and 1928. Secondly, in Rosario, a big city of the interior of the country, the University establishes a degree and a Master program in Political Science. In fact, the subject was treated only as part of the study of Public Law.11 No professional career was created in connection with the activities we have been mentioning. During the 50´s the situation changes and specialized careers are established, constituting the bases of a process of professionalization. When this stage is reached, the antecedents and early forms of disciplinary work have a differential weight in our different fields. In Sociology there is a radical break with the past. In the other fields there a tendency to discontinuity, although the early work attains a significance much greater that in Sociology. 3. First Period 1955-66: Full Institutionalization and Its Problems: breaks, continuity and projection towards the future 3.1. Full Institutionalization During this period our three disciplines reach the stage of full institutionalization. The salient event of the period is the creation of the Sociology career in 1957. Some of the basic steps conducting to this creation were done relying on the intervention of the state. At the time the Government was in the hands of a military dictatorship that had overthrown Gral. Peron , during his second term of office as elected President. At the time there was a general feeling about the need to reform the University after two unsatisfactory regimes. The sequence of a period of conservative exclusionary and routine control followed by a period of Peronist clientelistic, repressive and indifferent to academic excellence created the conditions for a generalized acceptance of the need for a change. The military Government made it possible to start a profound academic change. This was not the result of a direct commitment of the state to the improvement of university 11

P. Bulcourf y M.D´Alessandro (2002), A.Fernández (2002); J.Pinto (comp.)(2003)

6 life. In fact, the Government reacted to the pressures coming to the University community, active participant in the overthrow of the Peronist Government, and capable of obtaining a de facto control of the Universities.12 This active alliance did not last long: as the Government pushed for the establishment of private Universities, basically Catholic, and an intense conflict erupts. At the same time the process of change includes some cases of displacement of centers engaged in valuable work13. In 1958, the new University authorities are elected following the procedure established by a the new by-laws, that were the product of the participation of professors, alumni and students.14 The new regulations followed the principles of the University Reform movement of 1918, but they also made legal the establishment of primate Universities, at the time only confessional. The confessional character of the projected private Universities made them deeply antagonistic with respect to the secular commitment of Reformismo. Some of these Catholic Universities immediately established careers in the areas we are studying. At the same time, in most National Universities a process of organizational reform took place, establishing the election of authorities by professors, students and alumni, crating Departments and revitalizing Institutes with the aim of making research central in University life. At the same time the Universities tried to establish creative connections with different sectors in society and trying to provide academic contributions to the solution of social problems, The Reform of the University system, that the National academic institutions expected would institute the principles of the University Reform movement, unexpectedly opened the question of the legal recognition of private Universities and of their right to grant professional degrees. This question was rapidly closed against the vigorous opposition of the secular academic forces, it left a line of rupture in the academic world. More that a process of reconciliation between both types of universities, the initial confrontation moved towards a plateau of silent separation. The harsher forms of conflict became weakened, a situation that was enhanced by the creation of non confessional private Universities, in many cases oriented towards the profitability resulting form the expansion of the demand for education at the University level.. The first Sociology undergraduate program was created as the Reform pact with the Government was disintegrating. Within this framework, the project emphasized its break with the 12

R.Almaraz, M.Corchón y R.Zemborain (2001) R:Richard-Jorba (2004) 14 T.Halperin Donghi (2002); C.Rotunno y E.Díaz de Guijarro (comps) (2003) 13

7 past and its commitment to the establishment of new models of theoretical orientation and research practices. This was not the case in the other two disciplines, Anthropology and Political Science: here we find forms of connection with preexisting traditions and institutional apparatuses. This process of expansion was somewhat confined to the area of the capital city and neighboring cities. It took time before new degree programs were established in the interior of the country. At this time a rupture developed between the Sociology Chairs of the interior of the country, basically oriented towards formalistic analysis of society and the new programs, with their strong empirical orientation. This differences became the basis for an intense confrontation when opportunities of financial support started to become available. Activities in our discipline were present outside the area of Buenos Aires and its surroundings such as a traditional Chair of Sociology in Cordoba, a career in Political Science, in fact a form of legal analysis, while an attempt at the creation of an Institute of Anthropology in Tucuman failed15. From now on Sociology in Buenos Aires plays the role of the dynamic social science, capable of attracting students and of producing research results. The intellectual attraction and creativity of the Buenos Aires program is linked to the role in the teaching and research activities of social historians, grouped around José Luis Romero, and active in interdisciplinary work with sociologists. Social Anthropology and Social Psychology were also new areas opened by the G.Germani´s approach, attracting interested researchers and students. We will now look more closely at each of our disciplines and then we will look at some other institutional developments relevant to the processes of institutionalization and professionalization. 3.1.1

Sociology as an undergraduate Program.

Sociology´s undergraduate program was created as part of the activities of a preexisting institution, the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras of the Universidad de Buenos Aires. The institutionalization of the teaching activities conducting to the Bachelor´s degree went together with revitalization of the Institute of Sociology. making of it an active research center. Students had to become connected to research projects because the fulfillment of a quota of 200 hours in research was a prerequisite for the Bachelor’s degree. Graduates of other disciplines were encouraged to become connected to the Institute by offering them a special curriculum conducive to a degree of Specialist in Sociology. As 15

S.Bilbao (2002)

8 there were no Sociology graduates this channel of incorporation was vital to satisfy the need for Teaching and Research Assistants to take care of the growing number of students. The career started with 67 students and in 1966, a t the end of our period it had 2000.. The Institute organized scores of research projects, linked to the study of the national social structure, and quite soon many Working Papers and books were published. As part of the goal to make Sociology a field connected to national culture and open to public opinion, Germani engaged in an intense editorial activity partly channeled through a new publishing house organized by himself and other social scientists, the editorial Paidós. Editorial activities expanded later on when the University organized the Editorial Eudeba.16 The creation of the new Sociology Program was a clear case of cooperation between professors and students, within the spirit of the new academic framework. Gino Germani played a decisive role in the design of the degree program and of the research program and student delegates to Governing Council of the Facultad played a fundamental role in the process of obtaining the support of the Governing bodies of the Facultad and of the University for the initiative. Soon after the establishment of the new institutions, Germani took steps to supplement the funds allocated to the Department in the Facultad´s budget with support from the Ford Foundation. At the same time Conicet (the National Council for Scientific Research and Technology) began its Scholarships and Subsidies program. Germani organized a program of scholarship for University teachers interested in engaging in specialized studies in Sociology in foreign Universities. American and French sociologists were invited to visit the School and collaborate with its activities: some of these scholars stayed for several periods, made more than one visit and organized research projects. In 1961 the Institute organized the Jornadas Argentinas y Latinoamericanas de Sociología which took place in Buenos Aires. In 1959, the Universidad Católica Argentina establishes bachelor’s degree in Sociology. In 1963, the Universidad del Salvador establishes a similar program. By this time, there are chairs and Institutes in five universities located in the interior of the country.17 When moving from Sociology to Political Science and Anthropology we have to keep in mind that these disciplines were institutionalized following scientific and ideological models different from the ones inspiring the creation of Sociology in the UBA: 16 17

E.Verón (1974), G.Germani (1968) Ministerio de Educación (2003)

9 3.1.2

Undergraduate Programs in Political Science. Some Catholic private Universities organized bachelor´s programs before the approval of the law that granted them the right to confer professional degrees. It is so that appears the Political Science career in the Universidad del Salvador, the Jesuit University. This affiliation implies that there is a connection with traditional ideological pattern, which includes theology as part of the required curriculum. It also is associated to the aim of connecting with elites en different power areas. The Jesuit University tended not to hire full-time professors and in some occasion they were affected by financial crises and the payments to professors were discontinued. Thus, the institutional apparatus was more fragile than it was the case in Universities more committed to research and teaching, but at the same time it had the robustness derived form the fact of being part of the activities of a religious order. It also inherited the active life typical of the formalistic orientation. The Asociaciòn Argentina de Ciencia Política was created in 1957 and it became a member of the international association (IPSA).

Political Science as a general area had a long history of teaching, text production and connection with the state apparatus, as it was especially the case with the field of diplomacy traditionally included in the area of Political Science. But the activities that defined the area were always part of basically juridical approaches. The oldest academic center of teaching was reorganized in 1968 The original program of this unit of the Universidad Nacional del Litoral included the granting of Doctoral degrees in Political Science and Diplomacy. The reorganization had the goal of diminishing the dominant role of Public and International Law and increase the attention paid to political systems and institutions. During this period this traditional school keeps changing its institutional location y its foci of interest. Only at the end of the 60¨s it acquires and eclectic profile incorporating sociological, philosophical and other up-to-date approaches. Meanwhile, practitioners applying the more traditional approach stayed quite active. The Argentine Political Science Association. organized its Second Congress in 1960.18 3.1.3

Anthropology careers. The two bachelor´s degree programs created in 1958 were clearly following disciplinary traditions and represented extensions of existing institutional setups. Both careers are created in National Universities, one in the Facultad de Humanidades of the Universidad de La Plata, and the other in the

18

P.Bulcourf y M.D¨Alessandro (2002) ; A.Fernández (2002)

10 Facultad de Filosofía y Letras of the Universidad de Buenos Aires. The discipline was present in different points in the interior of the country, basing itself in many cases in independent explorers who became anthropologists. In La Plata the preexisting activities of the museum expand and the same prevailing orientation persistss. The second program, established in Buenos Aires has a base in the Museo Etnográfico and in the activities of preexisting chairs. The resources that are channeled towards the new program are quite diverse in terms of areas of specialization and approaches. There was Physical Anthropology tainted with racism: an Austrian scholar with a significant Nazi past has a major role in the areas, cultural anthropology oriented towards the description of the spirit of the Volk, archeology and modest tradition of fieldwork in Ethnology. The establishment of these two careers is the institutional novelty of the period. With their expansion to become bachelor´s program a polemical issue comes to the fore, the acceptance or rejection of Social Anthropology.19 3.2

Other components of the institutional apparatus. The creation of two types of governmental agencies was of paramount importance for the construction of an institutional set-up capable of providing support to the new academic disciplines. The first type consists of Centers for financial support of research. The major creation in this area was the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (1958). It was designed following the model of the French CNRS. A Researcher Career was established, as well as a subsidies program for research and a program of grants for studies and projects in foreign Universities and institution. The second type of supporting institutions were those oriented towards developmental programs and requiring the help of experts and assistants. As the period advanced, there also were important developments in the private sector. The Di Tella Foundation created a Sociology Center, which quite soon allows Germani and other researchers to distance themselves form the University. A Center of Sociopolitical studies connected to the Socialist Youth and financed by a Maecenas of

19

R.Guber y S.Visacovsky (2000)

11 the same orientation was another indication of the hope about the practical relevance of Sociology. Publishing Houses also play a significant role, publishing mainly classical works but including also some studies by national researchers. The editorial organized by the Universidad de Buenos Aires published classic and contemporary works and studies by American, French and German scholars. We have already mentioned a private firm, Paidós, with a very influential catalogue.20 Given the existence of an institutional apparatus, partly new but also partly preexistent, besides the professional demand of the University there is also a growing demand . outside Academia. Conicet expands the labor market in so far as it offers opportunities to engage in research work or to spend a longer time in professional studies. Public Development Agencies start defining a new type of demand as they hire people capable to engage in applied research and project design. A different type of link-generating occupations is the one we find in the Universidad del Salvador, where the concern with the public sector is oriented towards International Relations and centers of state power. Not too long after the first graduations, jobs in private mercantile activities made its appearance and started to expand. 3.3

Relationships between disciplines In this period we the beginnings of a process that becomes strong during the next period. Sociology becomes the basic point of reference and orientation or, at least, it acts as an interdisciplinary bridge. In the case of Political Science the influence of the sociological approach is manifested by the attention people working in this discipline lend to the work of political sociologists. Classical works a re published, such as books by Michels and Lipset and they act as conceptual and research inspiration. In Anthropology, students start pushing for the study of topics such as social movements, migratory flows o political processes. They exert pressure towards the creation of a degree in Social Anthropology. Topics traditionally studied by sociologists were seen as being a basic concern for practicing anthropologist. Another

20

A.Blanco (2002) y (2003)

12 factor for the interdisciplinary connection was the existence of a common language derived from the early interest in Social Anthropology that was present in Sociology programs. A common course in Introductory Sociology created a connection between students in the two disciplines. This disciplinary commitment was also linked to a social and political commitment that led to the participation of Anthropology students, together with a Sociology students, in one of the first armed organizations, located in a remote area that was one of the loci of anthropological studies. 3.4

Internationalization Two big grants of American Foundations are obtained by Instituto de Sociología. the Ford Foundation grant (U$S 210.000) and the Rockefeller foundation grant (U$S 35.000) Almost half of the Ford grant was destined to contracts for foreign experts and professors, while de second item in importance, representing a quarter of the total, was to be used for scholarships for graduate studies and specialization in foreign Universities. Connections were established with international organizations such as Unesco, Cepal, Flacso, OEA and some formal links permitted the organization of and participation in seminars as well as some publishing ventures and small research projects. A multi-country research project on Social Stratification was set up by Gino Germani in collaboration with Sociology chairs in Chile, Uruguay and Brasil. Several important documents and texts resulted fro the project, but the comparative component was not thoroughly completed. Another example of a research project giving rise to intercountry collaboration was the study of types of workers in Chile, with the participation of Alain Touraine and Lucien Brams froms and a professor of the School of Sociology. In Anthropology, projects of this type seem not to have existed. Meanwhile, in Political Science , as we have already mentioned there were regular contacts with foreign scholars and international academic venues, established through the agency of the local professional organization. The French political scientist G.Burdeau and the American Dahl were invited to the national congress. The

13 Argentine Association sent a big group of Argentine participants to the V World Congress of Political Science. Cepal (Ecla), a UN organization was created and inspired by an Argentine economist, Raúl Prebisch, and had among its staff quite a few Argentine experts and scholars. Cepal´s study of Argentine development was one of the most influential works during this period, becoming a basic source for Argentine social scientists During this period, in Argentina there were no graduate schools in modern social sciences. Thus, studies in other countries played a decisive formative role. At the time there were two main types of destination. One, was Flacso in Chile, where many international organizations were located, and the other were the major Universities in the USA and France. Courses at Flacso brought with them solid contacts between students from different Latin American countries as well as Latin American isntructors. Even, studies in the USA and Europe brought contacts with Latin-American students, previously non existent i Argentine: for some Argentine students this was the first exposure to people of Latin American countries. Needless to say these exposures shaped the future researchers and instructors and served to establish enduring links. Visits and lectures and joint activities by visiting scholars of different orientations and coming from different countries expanded the cultural and disciplinary horizons of instructors and students, especially in Sociology. Although there was variety among the invited professors, the standard type of American approach was prevalent. Translations of foreign works by Publishing Houses and even for ad hoc reproductions for courses were a quite intense and influential form of connection with foreign approaches. A major element in these developments were the subsidies originating in American Foundations. These subsidies made it possible to have a quantitative and qualitative expansion of sociological activities. At the same time they helped make different types of American approaches the key element in local teaching and research. The acceptance of these subsided generated one of the major conflicts to be faced by the new sociological institutions.21 The opposition of students and of part of the

21

E.Verón (1974)

14 professors and researchers made of this question a major issue in different areas of university life. 3.5

Orientations The creation of the Sociology program brought with it the prevalence of American bibliography, not only in the field of Sociology but also in the related fields of Social Psychology and Social Anthropology. French bibliography was used the Sociology of Labor and in Social History. Beyond the use of course bibliography there use a commitment to the idea of theoretical empirical knowledge, connected to model of American Sociology. The encounter of this model with Marxism, fostered by some professors and students, took place with Marxists feeling that the new orientation could provide a basis for verification and for a more rigorous application of Marxist tenets. The ideal of scientific knowledge was accepted by some Marxists. Such a connection was soon denounced by currents of thought rejecting the scientific ideal. There was interest in transcendental humanism, although it only became operative in very few cases. These developments took place, as we already indicated, without connection with studies and interpretations originated in the pre-institutionalization period, and with a certain degree of confrontation with the Sociology of the chairs. At the same time there was growing dissatisfaction with the process of institutional construction. The critique of forms of organization such as the departmental model merged with the opposition of foreign financing. As we already indicated, in Anthropology we find more continuity with previous forms of academic activity characterized by more diversity. Nevertheless, there was disconnections with field work and ethnological studies and search for a

new social anthropological approach. Political Science starts the period with the reaffirmation of a traditional formalistic approach, which is soon subject to critique and to a process of displacement by American oriented and sociologically based doctrines. Thus, in both disciplines we find a movement towards research oriented styles of work linked to theoretical approaches based in sociological issues.

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Second period 1966-83: Breaking currents and responses, repression and social struggles. 4.1 The National Context This second period is a time of pressures towards the breaking up of the model of empirical research and theoretical accumulation build during the first period. The breaking up process takes place through different mechanisms and processes that go from the political critique to military repression. There is heavy State control of teaching, research and applied uses of social sciences in the public sector. The major point of rupture is located in public universities. At the same time this attack gives rise to a response. There is displacement of the empirical-theoretical style towards private institutions, the Centros de Investigaciones. Those Centers represent an institutional break but they maintain the continuity in the style of research work. The period opens and finishes with military interventions (1966-73 and 1976-83). These interventions differ in terms of the degree and radicalism of the repression they impose. Between them there is a short period of constitutional government (1973-76) during which there are marked changes in orientation, as it starts as nationalist and-socialist and ends as extreme right. Massive popular mobilizations occur during this period and armed organizations expand, engage in frequent and varied forms of activity and are finally destroyed. Each of these governments had a different relationship with activities in the field of social sciences. The prevalence of times during which constitutional institutions did not exist brings with it direct, not mediated, forms of connection with political life on the part of intellectuals and of cultural institutions such as the University. The elimination of University autonomy and the repressive traditionalist policies in regard to the cultural world put into practice by the 1966-73 Dictatorship, accompanied by popular mobilizations of a previously unknown extension and intensity (Cordobazos 1969 and 1971) provokes a move towards direct action. Intellectuals work in contact with popular organizations (e.g. CGT de los Argentinos) and study forms of popular struggle. During the Peronist interlude an ample opening of the State towards forms of social mobilization accompanies the more militant connections of intellectuals. Theses connections are mediated by the identification with the political

16 party in power and its fractions present in the State apparatus. At the same time other political orientations independent of the government continue organizational work started during the previous dictatorship. With the new dictatorship, which employs a strategy of annihilation, mobilization disappears spaces of social action with the State apparatus are cleansed and contact with armed organizations remains one of the few forms of political participation, often conducive to death and disappearance. 4.2 The institutional context and the intellectual field. In all three governments of this period, University autonomy as established in 1958 was absent from public Universities, although in clearly different degree. During both military dictatorships and during the last part of the interlude, right wing University presidents were imposed by the State. During most of the interlude Rectors are Peronists. A well known intellectual who became Rector of the University of Buenos Aires expressed his conviction that a new national and popular approach required strict ideological control to eliminate ideological penetration. In fact, the frontier between our first period and the second one is clearly delineated by a highly symbolical decision of the governing council of the Universidad de Buenos Aires which brands the military government as illegal. After a public meeting at one of the Faculties, the police attacks professors and students: this episode is know as the “Noche de los bastones largos” (Night of the long sticks). Thousands of university professors resign. A few Sociology professors who decided not to resign and resist by maintaining their scientific standards were soon fired. In the Department of Sociology, only four professors were left. There was a reaction of solidarity in the Department of Sociology of the Universidad Católica. Reprimanded by the ecclesiastic authorities , the Director and 33 professors resign. Only 5 professors are left. In Universities of the interior of the country were there were Institutes or Chairs of Sociology (Tucumán, Cuyo and Córdoba), there were no changes. Finally, in Sociology at the UBA, the most important chairs and directive positions are occupied by a group defining themselves as practitioners of the “national sociology”, based on Peronist thinking. The incorporation of this group showed that the authorities were willing to maintain the Department as a functioning unit, but with the further political aim of finding an alternative to Sociology as it was practiced and to leftwing forms of commitment. At the same time a possibility of ideological legitimation of the regime was opened.

17 Private universities, confessional and secular, were already important. Some of them such as the Jesuit university (Universidad del Salvador) and the Universidad de Belgrano hired former professors of public Universities. The consolidation of the social sciences during the first period made it possible for some social scientists occupied governmental positions during one of phases of the 1966-73 dictatorship. During the Peronist interlude many social scientists and University professors occupied important positions in the government. Student organizations provide the only form of critical expression during this period. There was a lethal change after the 1976 coup: 8 out of 11 members of the Governing committee of one of the major student unions, the Engineering union, disappeared soon after the coup. This coup brought with it massive repression and expulsions of professors and researchers, some of whom disappeared. Towards the end of this dictatorship, some students´ organizations are reorganized in conditions of clandestine work.22 Meanwhile several developments were activating the role of the private sector in the Social Sciences. Ideological developments mentioned above reached the Jesuit University, the Universidad del Salvador. By the beginnings of the 70´s students and some instructors at the University started defining themselves as committed to the “national and popular” line, thus following the pace established by intellectuals of the Jesuit Order, although the Order was sharply divided between progressive and reactionary wings. The 1976-83 dictatorship hits with particular violence Universities of the interior of the country, some of them new and seen as outposts of modernity and in many cases very active during the time of the interlude. Professors and students became victims of the repressive process, especially those in the social sciences that by the time included many young scholars who were graduates of the careers established during the first period. In the School of Sociology of UBA, the new Director is the old Professor of Sociology of the Peronist period, a right wing lawyer and politician. Sociology professors are replaced with Navy officers teaching Geopolitics, or with right wing historians or geographers. The private creation that that is one of the defining features of this period is the establishment of private centers of research and teaching. The process started during the first period. We have mentioned the biggest and most powerful institution, the Instituto di Tella, that included several Centers and also gave shelter to some which were independently created. 22

M.Toer (1988)

18 The existence of private Centers redefined the context in which social scientists conducted their activities, so that a new professional structure emerged, different from the one present in central countries as well as in most of the countries where these sciences are active. The persistence of state organisms devoted to work on programming and development, with lower restrictions to entry than it was the case in universities was a major determinant in shaping the professional set up of the discipline. In most cases, social scientists had academic jobs and applied activities at the same time. The repressive rigor of the 1976-1983 dictatorship reached the State agencies and thus professionals working in theses institutions were jailed and were also among the disappeared. Armed organizations developed a complex institutional apparatus with the aim of recruiting or attracting people from different areas of specialization and activity, among them intellectuals and academic workers. Journals, scientific and cultural centers attempted to maintain continuity in their fields: they laso were subject to repression. The Revista Latinoamericana de Sociología, founded in the previous period, is published during part of the second period. After an interruption in 1971, it finally disappears in 1974. A central point of reference in the social sciences is the Journal Desarrollo Economico published by the Instituto de Desarrollo Económico y Social (IDES): the Journal and the Institute maintain their activities. Among publishing houses Paidós is active, Eudeba is subject to the avatars of the Universidad de Buenos Aires and a major publishing house, Siglo XXI opens a branch in Argentina, based on a previous small house, Signos. Although there are variants in terms of rupture and continuity, both repression and electoral victory push academics towards a search for commitment to activities linked to the people. The 1966 military government starts with a strongly repressive policy towards academia and intellectuals. It proclaims its commitment to the Catholic faith and to the moralization of culture. An artistic show at the diTella Institute is closed by the police, a humoristic journal is forbidden, the nation is consecrated to Maria´s Sacred Heart, the postal circulation of the Uruguayan journal Marcha as well as the circulation of all sorts of books, including books in the social sciences are also forbidden. Silvia Sigal 23sees this period as characterized by a fragile cultural field, whose fragility is increased by the combination of governmental repression and politicization of cultural 23

S.Sigal (2002)

19 criteria by the intellectuals themselves. Fragility and politicization did not result in the subordination of intellectuals to politics, but on the contrary to a demand of centrality, based on the assumed primacy of ideology. Different types of pressure were, in fact, at work: in some cases there was a demand for militancy, in others social scientists were asked to make relevant and useful professional contributions. 4.3 Continuity and breaks in the three disciplines The defining feature of this period is the establishment in sociology, and more generally in the social sciences of at least two different styles of work. While in the Universidad de Buenos Aires the style of work that Germani introduced was dismissed and condemned, that style of work gains continuity through the creation and development of private Centers24. Some private Universities also accept the approach that characterized the Universidad de Buenos Aires during the period of institutionalization. The breaking up within the social sciences took different forms. During the 1966-73 military dictatorship the national sociology we already mentioned tried to build a national-popular AntiMarxist, or at least A-Marxist orientation. As it was said, instead of explaining peronism on the basis of sociology this group decided to explain sociology on the basis of Peronism. During the interlude, there was a search for a national sociology, but with a stronger Marxist thread.25 Towards the end of the Peronist government the rejection of empirical theoretical Sociology became radicalized, as Sociology was moved to the School of Law and then temporarily closed. Later on the program was opened, the professors being committed to routine types of teaching and belonging in some cases to the Armed Forces. All classic critical elements were excluded from the teaching of Sociology. The displacement of the modern sociological approach was less marked in private Universities. Within a framework of continuity different forms of diversification were introduced. In some cases, Marxism was introduced in Department and institutions up to then alien to such orientation. On the other hand, in Political Science, the Jesuit University allowed its program to maintain a continuity with its previous commitment to diversity.

24 25

J.J.Brunner y A.Barrios (s/d) F.Delich (1977), R.Sidicaro (1992)

20 There was also a diversity of lines in Anthropology, although there was also a strong trend towards the national-popular orientations. Thus, in an atmosphere marked by struggles and repression, the institutional apparatys of the social sciences grows together with a growth of diversification. 4.4 The institutional apparatus of the social sciences: the new programs and centers 4.4.1 The period sees the expansion of undergraduate programs in the social sciences and the emergence of a few graduate degree programs. This expansion is not only quantitative but it is also marked by the participation of our three social sciences and by the activation of programs in cities of the interior of the country During the interlude FLACSO, the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, opens a National Center in Argentina. A Masters program in Political Science is established but it is discontinued during the 1976-83 dictatorship. Nevertheless some time later and under the same government an MA program in Social Sciences is established, with specializations in Sociology, Political Science, Education and International Relations. In 1968, the School of Political Science of the Jesuit University proceeds to redesign its curriculum, with the aim of modernizing its courses and of lending more weight to an approach based on American Political Science. In 1974 an Anthropology Program was opened in a University of the interior, the Universidad de Misiones. The program was organized by an Anthropologist who had studied in Buenos Aires and who later on got a Ph.D. degree in the USA In the same year an experienced Argentine anthropologist with an American degree organized a Centro de Antropología social at IDES the respected private center that published Desarrollo Económico. In 1973 and 74, during the interlude, careers in Social Anthropology are created the universities of Salta and Mar del Plata, but with the end of the interlude they disappear. A specialization graduate course in Social Anthropology created in the Facultad de Filosofìa y Letras at the UBA endures the same fate. In La Plata, the Universidad Católica establishes a program in Sociology while the National University fails in the attempt of creating such a program. 4.4.2 The novelty of the period is the organization of a multiplicity of independent centers. The Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas del Instituto di Tella, created in the previous period,

21 opens its activities during this period by receiving a Ford Foundation emergency grant. Three years later it receives another grant of greater magnitude. Some of the new Centers started within the Instituto and later became independent, while the opposite process brings centers, looking for coverage, to the larger structure of the ITDT. The Centro de Estudios de Estado y Sociedad (CEDES) moves away from the mother institution. Other Centers such as the Centro de investigaciones sobre la sociedad, el estado y la administraciòn (CISEA) and the Centro de Estudios urbanos y regionales (CEUR) are connected to the ITDT at some point of their existence. Thus, the process has a certain flexibility, with Centers moving in and out of the major Institute, through friendly or conflictive encounters. A Center with a different origin is the Centro de Investigaciones en ciencias sociales (CICSO) created by former instructors-researchers of the universities of Buenos Aires and Córdoba, most of them left outside the National Universities. The aim of the Center was to promote research activities and courses utilizing the Marxist approach. For several years the Center was financed with contributions of members and students. Several years later the Center obtained a grant from, Sarec, the Swedish agency, Although most of the Centers were created as research centers, several of them incorporated teaching activities and a few established formal programs. Ceur established a Specialization program that later became an M.A. program. The Fundaciòn Bariloche, which also had an active Centro de Sociologia organized M.A. courses for Argentine and other Latin-American students. The Fundacion was an exception in terms of its location in the interior of the country: researchers, instructors and students moved to a Southern part of the country. The Centers we have been talking of up to now come from the general matrix of the modernization process at the University, presided by a secular progressive ideology. These Centers served as seats for people returning to the country with graduate degrees During the period, other centers were organized by people coming from other perspectives The Centro de Investigaciones Laborales, that got French support, was organized by Catholic intellectuals. Another variant was the connection with social programs and NGO´s: CEPA, Centro de Estudios y Promociòn Agraria engaged in research connected to specific development projects.

22 An original set up was the one within which the Instituto Argentino de Desarrollo Econòmico (IADE) acted. It was connected to an important national coooperative banking concern and grouped intellectuals of the Comunist Party and of center-left groups of congenial orientations. With the exception of a couple of centers, almost all Centers were financed by foreign contributions. They later started selling their services as consultants. 4.4.3 A parallel development in terms of grouping researchers occurred in public agencies. During quite a few years there were social scientists participating in the State apparatus. The work they conducted had most of the time applied goals, although in some cases they were able to contribute research oriented towards the definition of large scale plans. The most important loci of this type of work were the Consejo Nacional de Desarrollo, el Consejo Federal de Inversiones, el Ministerio de Agricultura, la Escuela de Graduados del Instituto de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Some of the most important studies of the social structure of economic sectors were carried our in these institutions. Some of the groups enjoyed continuity in their work, as they originated in the previous period. The 1976-83 dictatorship established harsh measures of control and in some of the agencies experts and technicians disappeared. 4.4.4 It will be interesting to look now at collaborative efforts. An innovative form of joint work involving structural research and practical proposals was the study conducted by the Chair of Rural Sociology of the Universidad de Rosario and National and Provincial Ministries of Agriculture.26 A powerful type of combination was the joint work of National agencies and International agencias. A case in point is the collaboration between CIDA (Comité Interameriano de Desarrollo Agrario), an agency of the Organization of American States, and Consejo Federal de Inversiones (CFI) of Argentina. The resulting study, that was started during our previous period, became a classic piece in the field of theory and practice of land tenure. 4.4.5. Production of research and interpretive works increased significantly during the period. A list of publications in the social sciences includes 620 studies published during this period as compared to 120 during the precedent period. Another list, which concentrates on Political Science located 52 texts as compared to 16 in the previous period27. 4.5 Relationships between disciplines.

26

N. Giarracca (1999) J.C.Agulla (1996)

27

23 A contact specific to the interlude is the ideological connection between the national sociology orientation and some academic anthropologists. The common field of work was defined by the study of national reality from the point of view of a common national popular ideology. More generally, in Anthropology it occurs a reorientation towards Social Anthropology. This implied a decrease in the interest in geographical areas less integrated into capitalism and a move towards the study of urban areas. This approach puts Anthropology very close to Sociology. In Political Science there three developments that point towards closer connection with Sociology: 1. the introduction of the so called behavioral orientations, 2. the connection between sociologists and political scientists working in small centers without a definite disciplinary profile, the relevance of works in political sociology to the new style of work in political science, a relevance that makes these texts founding studies for the political scientists. Among sociologists there is a persistent interest in political sociology. Concern for the political crisis enhances this interest. Field work grows in importance. Areas of different social characteristics are covered, while topics such as marginality receive increasing attention. These two factors bring nearer Sociology and Political Science, on the one hand, and Anthropology on the other. In this period Political Science and Anthropology developed a visibility, that at the beginning of the process of institutionalization was held only by Sociology. 4.6 Internationalization and its Mechanisms 4.6.1. National social sciences are connected with external centers through a variety of mechanisms. Subsidies represent the better known connection. In this terraint it is necessary to distinguish between support from private foundations and other types of support such as the direct contributions of embassies, organisms of cooperation, international organisms and academic institutions. During this period subsidies to private centers were the most important type of transfer. In some cases these subsidies were decisive for the existence of the local centers. The research project on Marginality, began at ILPES, a research and training center associated with Cepal, and Desal, a Catholic action center, and then located at the di Tella Institute gave rise to polemics and false accusations that made evident the conflict about foreign financing. The utilization of foreign funds originated many discussions and conflicts. Besides the nationality of the funding institutions, such type of activity brought up the question of research by

24 command. This problem goes beyond the question of financing by foundations: it is also applicable to work for public agencies, ong´s and a great part of research conducted in universities. It was often the case that both critics and participants expressed their concern for the degree of influence exerted by the “customer”. When the funding institutions are foreign the question of internationalization becomes the problem of the subordination of national concerns and styles of work to forms and contacts established by the foreign funding institution.. 4.6.2 Another form of contact has to do with participation in an international milieu of academic work and applied projects. Participation in International Congresses taking place out of the country became gradually more frequent. At the same time that it served to allow for the circulation of the results of academic work in an international milieu and to expose local academics to ideas and types of research present in foreign circles, it had the somewhat unexpected result of allowing the reestablishment of links beteen local academics, between those working out of Argentina and those who stayed in the country. There was an influential contact for social scientists working in public agencies and sent to international courses at Ilpes in Stgo. de Chile. where they were exposed to the thought of CEPAL, a creative form of Latin-American thought. As for the connection between researchers and research centers, the creation of Clacso in 1966 was a significant step given its operative nature. The first three Secretaries General were Argentineans and the seat of the organization was Buenos Airs, for a long period. Clacso´s initial aim of encompassing all orientation was marred by conflicts with Marxist researchers. The organization was funded by the Ford Foundation, and after an initial period a conflict erupted between both institutions. The participation of Argentine social scientists in the academic and developmental activities of other countries was another creative form of contact. It had a massive and dramatic expression in their participation in Chilean Universities and agencies. The American sponsored coup against Allende cut these activities and made most of them return to Argentina. As they arrived during the interlude, many of them had to move again a few years later. The three governments of this period were associated to movements of academics, although in different forms. While the interlude attracted people who were out of the country it ended with a

25 thorough process of University cleansing that pushed many people out of the country. Both dictatorial governments generated masses of exiles. Although some of the points of destination were the rich countries such as USA, Canada and European nations, a significant situation occurred with regard to Latin-American countries. The participation of Argentine social scientists in academic and development institutions in Mexico, Brasil, Perú, Ecuador or Venezuela generated links that did not exist before and became solid and persistent. Another form of connections between social scientists of the region with the incorporation of graduate students were the MA programs in Rural Sociology organized by Clacso as a sort of roving venture. Each two year program took place successively in a different country: Paraguay, Ecuador, Costa Rica and República Dominicana. Together with the general movement of students enrolled in graduate programs in central countries, the Latin-American component had at the time an important expression in the MA courses offered by Flacso in Mexico and in Ecuador. These programs were part of an institutional program of expansion of the presence of Flacso in Latin America. It was coupled with the development of formation of bodies of instructors and research of different nationalities, mostly Latin American. The movement towards foreign Universities offering graduate degrees was funded by Conicet. In some cases foreign Universities offered grants. 4.7 The occupational fate of the graduates and the scope of professionalization From 1960 until the 70´s the number students getting degrees in social science in the main state universities grew from 85 to 3200 and the share of enrollments in the social sciences went from 17% to 20%, reaching 32%, its highest point, in 1970, although it is to be taken into account that economics is included among the social sciences.28 As usual, universities are the most important field for employment open for graduates. This field is severely curtailed by 1976-83 dictatorship. Nevertheless, earlier in the period there is gradual but constant expansion of theses areas, with chairs and programs of specialization in universities located in the interior of the country. The number of students reached a peak during the interlude and experimented a precipitous fall during the final period. Nevertheless, a fact that makes this employment merely partial is the scarcity of full time positions, especially in the social sciences. While in the UBA, full time positions are close to 80% in the basic sciences, in the social sciences it 28

Ministerio de Educación (1996)

26 is below 15%. In the country as a whole and for all disciplines, only 14% of the teaching staff hold full time positions. The salaries in part time positions (dedicaciòn simple) represent less than 10% of the full time salaries.29 Conicet´s scholarships were an important quasi-occupational field for people who wanted to conduct research of take specialization courses. The emergence of the first MA courses prolonged the duration of study programs. As preciously mentioned, studies in foreign Universities were the other way of making it possible to continue with programs of academic work. Public agencies offer jobs, with variable degrees of discrimination and repression. Ngo´s grow before the great repression of the 176-83 dictatorship. They become a dynamic area where students and specialists in the social sciences work, and the same time engage in forms of social activism. Private enterprises grow in numbers and size, although at a modest pace. The initial demand linked to market studies becomes more diversified. In some cases social sciences graduates establish small market studies enterprises, and later some firms conducting electoral studies. Growth of the firms brings with it agreements with big foreign firms or firms in neighboring countries, and sometimes straight sellouts. 4.8 Orientations As we have been showing up to now, this period is marked by a strong attack against the social sciences of that employed an empirical-theoretical style of work. In some cases the attack took strong negative forms, such it occurred when the Sociology program was closed. In other cases it took the form of an attack based on the spousal of an alternative approach geared towards the exclusion of the preciously established one. The most important rejection of this type took first the denomination of national sociology but sometimes it defined itself more sharply as revolutionary Peronist. This approach got some support among anthropologist and in the schools of political science at the Jesuit University (Salvador) and the state university of Rosario. Among some of the revolutionary Peronist groups that initiated the criticism and the new approach it occurred a move towards Marxist views. This move was particularly important among militant groups of a Catholic orientation. In fact these approaches tended to concentrate on the

29

M.Kisilevsky (2000)

27 construction of interpretations linked to political decisions, without connection with research or with analyses of a social science nature. The break occurred in many State and private Universities but it did not occur in all of them. There were movements in different directions. In the Jesuit University the period started with a movement towards the expansion of the influences coming from American style orientations. In the Catholic University there was a combination of American style sociology and conservative Catholic social thought. Even in the Universidad de Buenos Aires Department of Sociology, some groups of instructors persisted with orientations defying the prevalent one. In the private Universidad de Belgrano there was a diversity of orientations, mostly of the American type of approach. The Centers of research, mostly newly created, were the locus of continuity with the style of work institutionalized in the previous period. In fact, the Centers expanded the scope of research including new topics and novel orientations but within a basic trend of continuity.. While some of the centers were thematically specialized, as it was the case with Cepa and rural topics, and Ceil and labor studies, or theoretically committed, as Cicso and Marxism, most of the centers incorporated a wide range of topics moving beyond the structural studies of the Germani type. As questions of a political, ideological and communicational content were incorporated this made for interdisciplinary collaboration between our social sciences. One limitation to continuity and diversity was the weight of repression; many social scientists disappeared or went into exile Third -period: Expansion and problems of quality in a context of elected governments 5.1 National Context During this period all governments were elected governments: it is the longest period with constitutional governments elected by universal suffrage in Argentine history. There was a radical increase in dependence on foreign capital and on imperialist powers. Unemployment and poverty reached the highest rates in recorded history. Social movements, mostly of the unemployed, were very active. 5.2 Stabilization and expansion of the social sciences. The social sciences became more diversified in terms of institutions and orientations. Public Universities became autonomous again, and their authorities are elected by professors, graduates and students.

28 Some Universities, public and private, developed a commitment to scientific excellence. Public Universities established research subsidies for instructors and students. Quite a few M.A. programs and some Ph.D, programs were created,30 Private and international Centers are active in research, teaching and consultancy. There is a growing participation in local and international Congresses. Work in state agencies expands considerably. It is a period of expansion of the social sciences of international style. This implies a break with the previous period of repression or total political immersion.

5.3 Cultural context and cultural institutions In the cultural sphere there was a process of revitalization linked to the enthusiasm generated by the fall of the military dictatorship. Artistic activities, lectures, journals and magazines, films and visits by foreign intellectuals and artists, - favored by the overvalued currency - become part of everyday life. A youth culture, linked mostly to rock, attracts large numbers of youngsters: mass concerts in football stadiums are very successful, New themes define a new cultural environment. As the promises of social and economic change fail, the cultural enthusiasm with which this period starts evolves into a concern with unresolved issues. Topics such as the disappeared and the punishment of the culprits make human rights a central concern. Ngo´s organize campaigns around these topics that stay with us until present times. Somewhat later topics related to socioeconomic crisis become central: poverty, unemployment, precarious work and informality attract the activity of many researchers. With time, topics such as drugs and insecurity establish a connection between people’s everyday concerns and social science research. Social scientists are invited to participate in newspapers and TV programs. Together with stability, came participation of social scientists in state agencies, in Parliament and in majority and oppositional parties, Research is favored by university subsidies. Conicet continues its sponsorship activities and a new agency is created, to subsidize long term research projects.

30

O.Barsky y V.Sigal (2003)

29 At the same time the disproportion between size of the Universities budget and number of students grows greater. New appointments do not respect the established principle of open contests with qualified referees. The proportion of full time professors becomes much smaller: this situation brings with it the growth in the number of instructors having several jobs. Conflicts between student movements and university authorities coexist with negotiated exchanges of favors between them. The process of expansion of universities expresses itself in the existence of 36 state universities and 42 private universities. Both types of Universities include some universities committed to academic excellence. Good private Universities are very expensive. A major problem faced by Universities is the low quality of secondary instruction, especially in some locations. Hundreds of M.A. programs are created, recently joined by Ph D programs. One of the reasons for this growth has to with the increasing importance of graduate degrees as requirement for different types of jobs. The National Ministry of Education has created an agency devoted to the evaluation of these new programs. Many of the activities of evaluation are financed by international banks. The Universidad de Buenos Aires has rejected such funds. 5.4 Institution building in the social sciences. 5.4.1 Sociology The fall of the dictatorship brought with it the reestablishment of professors with an empirical-theoretical orientation and a reorganization of the Sociology program The number of students grew and the gamut of orientations among professors expanded. There is diversity in the basic courses, but the major form of establishing diversity was the creation of several dozens second year and advanced optional courses. The existence of diversity at all levels of the career makes it possible to complete all degree studies following one line of thought, almost without contact with other orientations. Diversity can become the seedbed for unilateral formation.

30 The Institute of Sociology was reorganized and it incorporated many research projects by professors, with assistance of graduates and students. Nevertheless, there are still a good proportion of professors who do not engage in research activities. Participation in Congresses is made possible by local subsidies and foreign invitations. Congresses become a regular feature not only in the Capital city but also in cities in the interior of the country. Some international Congresses become almost a must such as is the case with ones organized by the Asociación Latinoamericana de Sociología, or the Latin American Studies Association. There are also more specialized event such as the ones organized by the Asociación Latinoamericana de Estudios del Trabajo and Asociación Latinoamericana de Sociología Rural. The expansion in activities goes together with the opening of new programs: in 2003, The Ministerio lists 12 Bachelor´s programs in Sociology, with an equal share of public and private Universities. In some cases the program includes studies towards a bachelor´s degree and also studies oriented towards teaching activities, as Sociology is becoming part of the high school curriculum. Within the growing field of M.A. programs, FLACSO, an international organization has a leading role; two years ago it opened a Ph.D. program with partial financing from the Hewlett Foundation. A private University, the Universidad de Belgrano has maintained a Ph.D. program for many years. The Facultad de Ciencias Sociales of the UBA has recently opened a Ph.D. program. The local offerings of graduate programs coexist with the attraction of foreign Universities. The USA, Canada, France, the UK attract many students, while Spain is gaining more candidates and Brazil, with an important program of scholarships, is becoming an important center. Outside of the Universities, private centers maintain a significant role in research, although most of them are active in consultancy, in work with ngo´s and in teaching. Another expression of expansion is specialization. Specialized professional associations are organized. An example of this development is the Asociación de Estudios del Trabajo, created in 1993: it publishes an interdisciplinary Journal. Desarrollo Económico is a prestigious Journal which publishes interdisciplinary material. These Journals utilize the system of anonimous referees. Other Journals, such as Sociology, of the Department of

31 Sociology of the UBA is somewhat irregular in publication. There also Journals published by young sociologists, as El Ojo Mocho which have attained certain continuity. Publishing has been more limited than in the past as a result of economic problems and competition from Spanish publishers, as well as a fall in sales in sociology. Small publishing houses have published books by local scholars. 5.4.2 Political Science The career of Political Science was created in the UBA in 1985, when Francisco Delich, a social scientist, was Rector of the UBA . Thus, it had to wait more than 15 years after Sociology and Anthropology Programs were established. This creation was accompanied by certain ceremonial dignity: Norberto Bobbio gave the inaugural lecture. It started with 137 students. It was set up as an independent program not affiliated to a Facultad. Later it became part of the Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, created in 1988. As a discipline which might attract young students, it still generated opposition, as it was the case of one of the major newspapers, La Nación. In 1992 there was a change in curriculum to update contents and introduce areas of specialization. Since then there are five areas of study: political theory and philosophy, compared politics, political analysis and studies of public opinion, design and implementation of public policies and, finally, international relations. In 1998, there were already 520 graduates. For 2003 there is estimation of 3000 students and about 300 instructors, 15% appointed by a jury, and 80% having paying jobs. At the beginning of our period there were 6 bachelor´s

programs in political

science, two of them in public universities. The field of political science acquires visibility and national existence. In 1985 the UBA established a Committee for the Study of the State and its Problems. Then, the Office of the President of the Republic incorporated the University Committee into a new consultative organ. Prestigious international scholars, such as Linz, Sartori and Calabresi were invited to work with the Committee in the elaboration of a report on “presidential vs. parliamentarian systems”. The national scope of the discipline is attained through contacts between Universities. The Rosario program establishes common activities with Córdoba and Mendoza.

32 The Asociación Argentina de Ciencia Política, which maintained the tradition of utilizing legal approaches is dissolved. A competing organization, the SAAP takes the role of national organization and becomes a member of IPSA. In 1991 the International Congress takes place in Buenos Aires. Then, the 1993 Argentine Congress offers an opportunity for the victorious presentation of the modern approach, with the presence of several invited foreign specialists and more than 100 papers. presented for discussion. Several private centers are in activity, at least during part of the period, although their major field is international relations. There are also private centers espousing a leftist approach, such as Eural, directed by A.Borón, and Clade, directed by José Nun. The journal Revista argentina de relaciones internacionals makes a short reappearance. The journal Crítica y Utopía directed by F.Delich is published until 1989. More recently appear publications congregating young graduates and students such as El Politicólogo FLACSO opens an MA program in international relations. Later on, MA programs in several Universities initiate their activities. A private University, the Universidad de Belgrano continues with its PhD. Program. In 1983 the Universidad de Belgrano organized a symposium on the Problems of Democracy. 5,5,3. Anthropology. The growth of Anthropology is more limited than the expansion in the two other disciplines. In 2003, there were 11 universities, 2 of them private, with Anthropology programs. Some of these programs were specialized in Archeology or in the formation of technicians. There were 3 bachelor´s programs in anthropology, 3 of them defining themselves as specialized in Social Anthropology. The two original programs in Buenos Aires and La Plata, and the already mentioned Misiones program are joined by undergraduate programs in Buenos Aires province and in the Northwestern region, a traditional area of anthropological and archeological research. As part of the Facultad de Filosofia y Letras of UBA, the Anthropology program offers also a Ph.D.degree, the doctoral degree being part of the traditional set of disciplines in the Facultad.

33 There is a widening of the discipline, in terms of topics as well as in terms of geographical areas of interest. There isn’t anymore a concentration in the study of aboriginal peoples located in marginal areas. A multiplicity of social situations become object of study, such as shanty towns, rural towns, feasts and ceremonials of the lower and the upper classes, neighborhoods, soccer, polo, millenarian movements, community life and voting patterns, migrants and frontiers. Some prestigious anthropologists moved from fields such as rural anthropology and opened new areas of study like science or cultural identity, while others persist in the study of classical topics, but introducing new approaches. This widening of interests is linked to the growth of social anthropology within the general area of anthropology. Nevertheless, among anthropologists this expansion coexists with a feeling of loss. Thus, it is said that “anthropology has been losing areas such as the studies of popular culture and folklore, now in the hands of other disciplines such as sociology, literature or literary theory.” New areas, more related to the study of society and politics are seen as being only in the process of opening additional fields. In 1988 , year of the 30th. Anniversary of the creation of the first undergraduate program, a national Congress was organized. The process of thematic widening mentioned above is accompanied by contacts with sociologists and historians, who are often invited to make special presentations in anthropological meetings. Traditional areas of work such as archeology continue active. Although they are mostly not connected to social anthropology there are attempts at developing a social archeology. There is an area of work that saw a dramatic development during this period, i.e. legal anthropology. The commitment of national and foreign anthropologists made it possible to identify desaparecidos., 5.6 Relationship between disciplines On the one hand, this period shows the persistence of the already mentioned trend towards confluence between sociology and anthropology and between sociology and political science.

34 On the other hand, as the disciplines develop they tend to look for specific spaces. Those spaces are defined by topics, research methods and theoretical points of reference. A further step in this direction is the activation of professional communities. In the case of political science there is a conscious search for community, as a rsponse to the conviction that a lack of it is a central obstacle to the solid establishment of the discipline. 5.7 Internationalization Also in this area we find contrasting tendencies. On the one hand, the relationship of the three disciplines with centers and agencies of central and Latin-American countries, while on the other there is a withdrawal of funds. It is not the case of a complete disappearance of external funds. There is a certain degree of differentiation, with French funds joining the traditional American sources. Antorchas is an interesting case of the channeling of entrepreneurial funds through a network of groups in several Latin-American countries. This experiment is about to end, as Antorchas is about to discontinue its activities. The decrease in foreign funds is accompanied by the increase in local public funds through Conicet and the Agencia. Some of these funds come from external agencies. These agencies have funded graduate studies in foreign countries. The period of economic and labor market crisis changed the nature of the interest in studying in foreign countries. From a process of improvement and specialization of people interested in returning to the country of origin we moved to a process of hidden migration. The presence of Latin American countries in the process of specialization and search for higher degrees has become significant as it is the case with Flacso´s courses in México and Ecuador. Brasil is a very interesting case because it is receiving many Argentine students and offering scholarships, without obtaining reciprocity from Argentina. The settlement of Argentine students in countries where they get their degrees or the definitive or temporary settlement of exiles establishes professional and intellectual links. A phenomenon that represents a qualitative change in patterns of internationalization is the circulation inside the Latin-American area which became very intense. International

35 disciplinary Congresses, some of them interdisciplinary as is the case with Lasa, have become regular forms of encounter. Embassies and agencies of the central countries finance exhanges. During part of this period, the rate of exchange of the Argentine peso made it possible to invite and pay figures such as Castel, Touraine, Giddens or Beck. The presence of foreign specialists is also part of many of the new graduate programs. In many cases connections with foreign universities and specialists are seen as decisive market weapon. Usually these contacts are not accompanied by foreign subsidies to local graduate courses Foreign universities opened branches in Argentina, offering courses to national students (Bolonia) or to their own (NYU) Contacts with countries of destination are maintained through the establishment of binational institutions. Argentina-Canada centers in different university cities are very active and help promote contacts between Canadian agencies and local Ngo´s The dramatic avatars of Argentine society have brought with them a revival in the interest of latin-americanists. This traditional form of contact between central and dependent countries has reached an intense expression in the recent Congresos de Americanistas. 5.8 Professionalization: Graduates and the labor market A basic determinant to be taken into account is the economic cycle, with its hectic movements in recent years. In all three disciplines there has taken place a process of diversification, with a great growth of positions en governmental agencies and, to a lesser degree, in ngo´s. The creation of many Universities and many programs increased the already major role of Universities in the labor market. Nevertheless, we have to take into account the fact that most jobs in Universities are part time. Holding multiple occupations is a central characteristic of members of these three disciplines´ labor market A more recent form of connection with the state is the activity of consultant to MP´s which is practiced by some sociologists, but especially by political scientists. Beyond this

36 professional activity, during this period social scientists have been engaged in politically significant activities, acting as Ministers, consultants and advisers to Ministers and to the President of the Republic,. There were also some cases of parliamentarians or provincial governors.. The growth of electoral studies generates jobs and made some sociologists familiar figures in TV, newspapers and popular magazines. Several firms formed by local social scientists are now linked to international chains. Personnel selection, especially at the executive level, and market studies are areas of private activity in which social scientists are very active, both as owners or executives and of grassroots personnel. Journalism is a field that has offered job opportunities for social scientists, although in a limited degree. Some the problems they encounter and the type of adaptation required for these types of jobs can be exemplified by the firing of a journalist cum social scientist by one the major newspapers because of his role as trade union organizer. 5.9 Orientations The third period has been characterized by the development of a diversity of orientations. Whereas some new approaches become consolidated and give rise to actual studies, others do not move beyond the level of general statements. The varied experiences of the social scientists who stayed in the country as well the contributions of those who left and then came back are an important source of diversity. At the same time, a diversity of social organizations, most of them new, and state agencies demand the attention and the collaboration of social scientists. Changes and diversity differ according to discipline. 5.9.1 Sociology The lively sociological landscape can be examined following several dimensions.31 1. Theory is a first dimension. During this period, differing approaches, already present in previous periods, become consolidated. This is the case with the classic American

31

R.Sautu (comp.) (1999)

37 style, the studies based on the so called national thinkers, and the more traditional Marxists analyses. A European form of analysis of social structure grows considerably. At the same time theoretically oriented empirical studies become revitalized around specific concepts such exclusion, disaffiliation or poverty, closely related to social problems concerns. New Marxist approaches reactivate studies of social classes and stratification. Structural analyses are combined with the study of actor’s perspectives and sociability patterns. A form of treating theory that became widespread was precisely not to treat theory as a basic component of research. Many descriptive studies, often generated by state agencies and hortatory pieces using descriptions as illustrations are examples of attempts at a-theoretical work. 2. A second relevant dimension has to do with the development of data collection and analysis. The utilization of different quantitative and qualitative methods define diverse styles of work, without creating a more comprehensive methodology capable of favoring complementarity. Recent forms of quantitative analysis, formalized techniques of qualitative analysis and the systematic analysis of texts and written sources became separate alternatives utilized by sociologists of differing theoretical orientations. As in the case of theory, there are also many studies devoid of any methodological concerns. 3. A third dimension not as generally applicable as the previous ones, has to do with the relationship with other disciplines. The linkage between sociological studies and topics and approaches in economics and history is the most notable one. When these linkages exist, a basic question is the type of relationship established. We often encounter lines of work where the sociological approach is entirely subsumed by the concerns and style of work typical of the other discipline. 4. Finally, the dimension “linkage with applied sociology” modifies significantly the style of work of sociologists. Two basic types of applied activities can be

38 distinguished: those related to ngo´s (and sometimes political parties or trade unions), and those related state agencies or international agencies which sometimes operate through state agencies. In both cases, there is a set of topics that are prevalent, such as poverty, exclusion, or more general displacement by the capitalist system. A further topic present in the ngo´s agenda is human rights. Applied studies differ also in the degree of closeness to direct intervention. Thus, the existing diversity is really great. There are Schools and Departments where diversity means war and a war where losing has serious consequences. We may ask if there are cases where diversity brings with it dialogue. There are impassable frontiers, but there is also communication, albeit limited and not continuous. Congresses and Symposia provide the loci for communication. There is more dialogue between young researchers and senior sociologists than between senior sociologists. Unfortunately these loci are not always loci for the communication of ideas but an occasion for the ritual presentation of papers associated to academic survival. 5.9.2 Political science During this period, a process started during the previous one becomes central in the discipline. An approach called by its practitioners empirical, strongly influenced by the American behavioral theory reaches a dominant position. The Jesuit University leads the process and is followed by the Universidad de Rosario (previously Universidad del Litoral) which had the oldest program in the field. The dominance of this approach generates the possibility of a dialogue. Starting from this common interest a difficult new step is taken. This step was oriented towards an enrichment of the achieved commonality, It was favored by confluence on a common topic, the question of the transition to democracy, prevalent since 1983. An attempt was made at linking the political behavioral approach with topics and orientations related to structural, institutional and ideological themes.

39 Although this attempt at a synthesis represents the mainstream, there are also alternative approaches committed to develop a style of work linked to the political thought of national political figures or of national thinkers. 5.9.3Anthropology The movement towards the dominance of Social Anthropology , With a rejection of traditional forms of an anthropology centered in the study of “otherness” prevails during this period. The VI th. National Congress of Anthropology consecrates this move. It the “others” are still studied: they are not approached as peculiar forms of social life separated from national life, not as folkloric survivals but as groups located in a system of relations of production and in national political and social organization. In some cases, this view is connected to a search for joint work

with popular

action organizations or with governmental promotion plans. Thus, we find in anthropology concerns and styles of action that we mentioned in looking at sociology. Topics such as poverty, exclusion, lack of infrastructure or crisis of middle class groups become central and are associated with a more activist style of work. These concerns are not separated from an interest in the utilization of stricter research techniques. A search for appropriate methods of qualitative analysis and for more sophisticated quantitative techniques, such as cluster analysis and regression, modify the more traditional ethnographic methodology. In the theoretical field, some approaches coming from cultural studies and identity theory bear witness to the acceptance of newer theoretical approaches. Thus, we see changes parallel to those occurring in the other two disciplines, mostly sociology. 5.6 Orientations and common features In all three disciplines and after a series of avatars we reach a point in which the major feature is the existence of great theoretical, methodological and thematic diversity. As a result we have significant contributions to the understanding of national reality, resulting

40 from disciplined research. Nevertheless, we do not have a synthetic view of social structure and its movements. There is a somewhat exaggerated dependence on imported theories, reaching the point of an acceptance of fashions and of the demands of international consumers. Production is plentiful, but the criteria about quality are not clear. Budget scarcity limits the action of public Universities. Internal institutional and intradisciplinary conflicts still define the framework within which intellectual work has to be carried out. Bibliography Agulla, Juan Carlos, Ideologías Políticas y Ciencias Sociales. La experiencia del pensamiento social argentino (1955-1995), Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, 1996 Almaraz, Roberto; Corchon, Manuel; Zemborain, Rómulo: ¡Aquí FUBA! Las Luchas estudiantiles en tiempos de Perón (1943-1955), Editorial Planeta, Buenos Aires, 2001. Argentina Editores, Buenos Aires, 2002. Barsky, Osvaldo y V.Sigal, Los desafíos de la educación superior en Argentina, UB, Buenos Aires, 2003 Bilbao, Santiago A.: Alfred Métraux en la Argentina, Infortunios de un antropólogo afortunado, Editorial Comala, Venezuela, 2002. Blanco, Alejandro: “La sociología por escrito: Un episodio de su historia intelectual.” en Revista de Ciencias Sociales, Nº13, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Noviembre de 2002. Blanco, Alejandro: “Los proyectos editoriales de Gino Germani y los orígenes intelectuales de la sociología” en Desarrollo Económico, Revista de Ciencias Sociales, Nº 169 Vol. 43, Buenos Aires, Abril-Junio 2003. Brunner, J.J. y A.Barrios, Inquisición, Mercado y Filantropía. Ciencias sociales y autoritarismo en Argentina, Brasil, Chile y Uruguay, FLACSO, Stgo.de Chile Bulcourf, Pablo y D`Alessandro, Martín: “La ciencia política en la Argentina. Desde sus comienzos hasta los años 80” en Revista de Ciencias Sociales,Nº13, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Noviembre de 2002. Delich, Francisco: Crítica y Autocrítica de la razón extraviada. Veinticinco años de Sociología, Colección Estudios interdisciplinarios /1, El Cid Editor, Caracas, 1977. Fernández, Arturo: La ciencia política en la Argentina, Dos siglos de historia, Ediciones Biebel, Buenos Aires, 2002. Germani, Gino, “La sociología en Argentina”, en Revista Latinoamericana de Sociología, Vol.4 Nº3, Buenos Aires, 1968 Germani, Gino, Desarrollo y estado actual de la sociología latinoamericana, Boletín del Instituto de Sociología, cuaderno 17, t.XII, 1959 Giarracca, Norma, “Las ciencias sociales y los estudios rurales en la Argentina durante el siglo XX”, en N.Giarracca, Estudios Rurales. Teorías, problemas y estrategias metodológicas. Buenos Aires, La Colmena, 1999

41 González Bollo, Hernán y Pereyra, Diego, “Social Sciences and the Pan- American Region. Networks in Statistics and Sociology during the 1940s.” , International Colloquium: The Location of Knowledge. Locality, Empire and Transnational Networks in the Construction of Knowledge, University of Duke, University of Virginia, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. Buenos Aires, Argentina. December, 2003 González Bollo, Hernán, El nacimiento de la sociología empírica en la Argentina: El Instituto de Sociología, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (UBA) 1940-54. Dunken, Buenos Aires, 1999. González, Horacio, “Cien años de sociología en la Argentina”, en H.González (comp.), Historia crítica de la sociología en la Argentina. Los raros, los clásicos, los científicos, los discrepantes, Colihue, Buenos Ares, 2000 González, Horacio, “Las Ciencias sociales argentinas: Itinerario y promesa”, Fin de siglo, Boletín de la BCN, Nº119, s/d Guber, Rosana y Visacovsky, Sergio E.: “La antropología social en la Argentina de los ´60 y ´70. Naciòn , marginalidad crítica y el “otro”” en Desarrollo Económico, Revista de Ciencias Sociales, IDES, Nº 158 Vol. 40, Buenos Aires, Julio-Septiembre 2000. Halperin, Donghi, Tulio: Historia de la Universidad de Buenos Aires, Editorial Eudeba, Buenos Aires, 2002. Kisilevsky, Marta, Indicadores universitarios. Tendencias y experiencas internacionales, Eudeba, Buenos Aires, 2000 Levene, Ricardo, Historia de las Ideas Sociales Argentinas, Espasa Calpe Arg., Buenos Aires, 1947 Ministerio de Educación, Ciencia y Tecnología, Secretaría de Políticas Universitarias, www.me.gov.ar, nov.2003. Ministerio de Educación, Secretaría de Políticas Universitarias, Anuario de Estadísticas Universitarias, MinEd, Buenos Aires, Años 1996, 7 y 8. Neiburg, Federico: “Ciencias sociales y mitologías nacionales. La constitución de la sociología en la Argentina y la invención del peronismo” en Desarrollo Económico, Revista de Ciencias Sociales, Nº136 Vol. 34, Buenos Aires, Enero-Marzo de 1995. Orvieto Pinto, Diana, Sociology as a Cultural Phenomenon in France and Italy 1950-72, Ph.D.dissertation, Harvard, 1977, 2 vols. Pereyra, Daniel Pinto, Julio (Comp.): Introducción a la ciencia política, Editorial Eudeba, Buenos Aires, 2003. Poviña, Alfredo, “La sociología argentina”, en Georges Gurvitch, Wilbert Moore y Oreste Popescu, Sociología del Siglo XX, El Ateneo, Buenos Aires, 1945, vol.2 Ratier, Hugo E. y R.R.Ringuelet, “La Antropología y el medio rural en la Argentina”, en Norma Giarracca (comp.), Estudios Rurales. Teorías, problemas y estrategias metodológicas, Buenos Aires, La Colmena, 1999 Richard-Jorba, Rodolfo, “El Conicet y la Ciencia”, Argenpress, www.argenpress.info, junio 2004 Rotunno, Catalina y Díaz de Guijarro, Eduardo (Compiladores): La construcción de lo posible, La Universidad de Buenos Aires de 1955 a 1966, Libros del Zorzal, Buenos Aires, 2003. Sainsaulieu, Renaud. « La profession de sociologue en France » in Henri Mendras & Michel Verret, Les champs de la sociologie franÇaise, Paris, Armand Colin, 1988 ;

42 Sautu, Ruth (comp.) “Área de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades” en Secretaría de Ciencia y Tecnología-Min.de Cultura y Educación, La investigación científica y tecnológica en Argentina, Diagnóstico e Identificación de Áreas de Vacancia, Buenos Aires, 1999 Secretaría de Ciencia y Técnica, UBA, Quince años de investigación científica en la Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, UBA, 2001 Sidicaro, Ricardo, “Reflexiones sobre la accidentada trayectoria de la sociología en la Argentina”, CEdCSo, Buenos Aires, 1992 Sigal, Silvia: Intelectuales y poder en Argentina. La década del sesenta, Siglo XXI, Buenos Aires, 2002. Toer, M. (comp.), El movimiento estudiantil de Perón a Alfonsín, Buenos Aires: Centro Editor de América Latina, 1988, 2 vols. Verón, Eliseo, Imperialismo, lucha de clases y conocimiento (Veinticinco años de sociología en la Argentina), Tiempo Contemporáneo, Buenos Aires, 1974 Zimmerman, Eduardo A., La cuestión social en la Argentina, 1890-1916, SudamericanaUdesal, Buenos Aires, 1994