The Politics of Academic Autonomy in Latin America

Introduction: Current tensions and trends in the World Scientific System

“…According with Beigel (2013) this has had an impact on the process of differentiation along the periphery among internationalized scientists and researchers restricted to domestic circuits. A new form of brain drain took place since indexed journals increasingly appropriated knowledge created in peripheral contexts, because an important share of those papers became unavailable to the local scientific communities where these authors were affiliated, given the lack of material resources to pay expensive suscriptions.…”

“…Against simplistic center-periphery models that reduce asymmetries to export-import relations, empirical studies have shown that autonomous knowledge is produced outside the 'centers of excellence'. Although theories and methods produced in the periphery have low possibilities for 'exports' to mainstream circuits, this doesn't imply that this knowledge is the result of massive imports of central models (Beigel, 2013). Diverse paths of professionalization were forged in Asia, Africa and Latin America during the period of 1960-1980: 'peripheral centers' emerged and several regional academic circuits were developed (Beigel, 2010;Chatelin and Arvanitis, 1989).…”

Publishing from the periphery: Structural heterogeneity and segmented circuits. The evaluation of scientific publications for tenure in Argentina’s CONICET

“…By combining dependency analysis with Bourdieu's reflexivity, I have developed a relational concept of academic dominance that considers the unequal distribution of both research capacities and 'international' scientific reputation, attempting to go beyond the classic stereotype that likens centrality to autonomy, and assumes periphery as its heteronymous alter ego (Beigel, 2013a). Against simplifications of the center-periphery focus that reduce asymmetries to export-import relations, I have argued that although knowledge produced on the periphery has little margin for 'export' (circulation) to mainstream circuits, this does not imply that this knowledge is the result of massively importing the central models.…”

History of sociology and the quest for intellectual autonomy in the Global South: The cases of Alberto Guerreiro Ramos and Syed Hussein Alatas

“…Important institutions such as FLACSO and CLACSO gathered not just sociologists but economists as well, providing solid institutional ground for the diffusion of ECLA's doctrines (Beigel, 2013). Pinheiro (2010) has found that the syllabus in sociological courses in Southeast Asia universities included works by economists from South America, and that social scientists drew on dependency theory and ECLA's texts.…”