The Alliance for Progress, modernization theory, and the history of management education: The case of CEPAL in Brazil

Abstract

We investigate the case of the Economic Commission for Latin America in Brazil to discuss how modernization theory was mobilized to influence management education. The theories formulated by the Economic Commission for Latin America formed the basis of the courses it offered on development administration and management and the public administration schools it helped create. The theories from the Economic Commission for Latin America were contrary to US interests and to the modernization theory tenets developed by US scholars. The Alliance for Progress, launched in 1961 by US President J.F. Kennedy, was a project informed by modernization theory aimed to foster development in Latin America, and to contain the spread of Communism after the Cuban Revolution. The Alliance for Progress mobilized a network of US-controlled institutions that invested in management education and in an interpretation of development administration and management based on modernization theory that confronted the Economic Commission for Latin America. We make use of Burke’s Pentad to articulate the interactions among (asymmetrical) players at different levels of analysis and along the historical period investigated. We treat science as literature, and we present our analysis in a dramatistic narrative to promote reflexive management learning. We show that US-led investment in management education increased considerably after the launch of the Alliance for Progress, and that it lasted throughout the 1960s.

Passado, Presente E Futuro De História (Crítica) Das Organizações No Brasil

“…Alcadipani (2017), based on a postcolonial approach -already consolidated in the Anglo-Saxon world -utilized the concept of sociological reduction of Guerreiro Ramos for his research on the circulation of knowledge in business administration in the periphery. Barros and Wanderley (2019) used Francisco Weffort's concept of populism to investigate the Therefore, what seems to us to be outlined here is the articulation of an author/theory, concept (Alcadipani, 2017;, or national theme (Barros & Taylor, 2020;Cooke & Alcadipani, 2015;Quelha-de-Sá & Costa, 2019;Wanderley & Barros, 2020) with an international theoretical or methodological approach (Alcadipani, 2017;Barros & Taylor, 2020;Quelha-de-Sá & Costa, 2019;Wanderley & Barros, 2020), so that our various Tupi origins can take a seat at the table of the house of knowledge (Anglo-Saxon) and thus communicate. This kind of articulation can also be a way of avoiding falling into the trap of parochialism and continuing to tell our own stories to ourselves.…”

Towards an aspirational future: Cultivating ontological empathy within the ethos of Management Learning

“…Weatherall, 2019) and scholars from the Global South (e.g. Wanderley and Barros, 2020). In fact, at the time of writing this editorial, one of the most read and most cited articles in the journal was about the doctoral student experience (Weatherall, 2019); likewise, the Best Paper Award for 2021 was also given to a piece written by an early career scholar and addressing their experience of becoming a researcher (Brown, 2021).…”

Colonialidade e Marketing: Da Arrogância Hegemônica à Resistência Periférica

“…O binômio economia e política se manifesta no processo de expansão do domínio hegemônico dos países centrais. O componente político do ponto zero e da arrogância estadunidense na produção e disseminação de conhecimento fica evidente com a participação do Conselheiro e Presidente do Conselho de Planejamento Político do Departamento de Estado dos EUA e expoente da teoria da modernização, Walt Rostow (Wanderley & Barros, 2019). Ao participar da Aliança Para o Progresso (ALPRO), programa de ajuda lançado pelo presidente Kennedy em 1961 para promover a desenvolvimento na América Latina, Rostow (1960) defendeu que era necessário um plano econômico, social e político de exportação do ideal democrático dos EUA, a fim de convencer as autoridades locais e as populações a aceitarem a intervenção estrangeira na disseminação do conhecimento.…”

“…O giro decolonial se expandiu para as áreas das ciências sociais aplicadas. Na Ciência Administrativa surge a necessidade de reflexão sobre a hegemonia euroestadunidense na produção e disseminação do conhecimento sobre administração e suas funções (Wanderley & Barros, 2019). Podemos citar o questionamento quanto à hegemonia do idioma inglês no campo científico, e como isso tem contribuído para a reprodução da mesma lógica colonial que por séculos impediu os nativos de produzirem sentido acerca do que pensavam, falavam e escreviam (Rosa & Alves, 2011).…”