International networks and the institutionalisation of sociology in Argentina (1940-1963)
[Thesis]
Pereyra , Lic Diego
University of Sussex
2005
Thesis (Ph.D.)
2005
My dissertation studies the role of international networks in the institutionalisation of sociology in Argentina from 1940 to 1963. This study aims to offer, through an archival investigation and the reconstruction of life stories, a new explanation of the historical patterns of the institutionalisation of sociology in that country, opposed to the mythical and parochial narration that is usual in the current literature. The institutionalisation of the field in Argentina was very problematic and institutionally disrupted. The central concern of my research is the study of the impact and contribution of that technical cooperation on the local sociological field from a moment when local universities started training in social investigation techniques to a time in which two leading local sociologists reached the top positions at the international institutional level. I shall demonstrate the role of certain international bodies and US funding organisations in the promotion of sociological teaching and research in Argentina, showing the interrelation between local and international factors. Both academic and non-academic factors influenced the professional careers of home sociologists. That process happened in a time marked by the institutional and personal competition between two main local sociologists: Gino Germani and Alfredo Povifia, who argued with each other and competed locally and internationally for funds, networking and prestige. Their actions were defined by the chance of accessing to a set of institutional and individual relationships in which it was possible to exchange experiences, knowledge, methods, strategies and technologies. I will argue that the emergence of the international networks in that dispute contributed even more to the fragmentation of the field. I will also explain that the final victory of Germani can not only be explained by cognitive factors, but also by timing and the use of certain managerial and entrepreneurial skills.