Las ciencias sociales en America Latina
In: Revista mexicana de ciencias políticas y sociales, Band 30, Heft 117-118, S. 9-21
ISSN: 0185-1918
The present state of the social sciences in Latin America goes back to the foundation of the Organization of American States & to the Cold War begun during the Truman administration. From 1945 to 1959, a neopositivist & neoempiricist sociology, inspired by conservative North American sociologists, dominated the field. Nevertheless, starting with the Cuban revolution (1959), a sociology directly committed to popular movements & in favor of a renovation of Marxist & revolutionary thinking emerged & confronted the reformist approach to social sciences. In the 1970s, the critique took position mainly against the "developmentalist" thinking of the ECLA (acronym not defined), the traditional theory of dependency, denouncing as an illusion the notion of independence & development under the leadership of the national bourgeoisie. In Chile, Salvador Allende's government & its overthrow (1970-1973) demonstrated the relationship between power & politics, while the revolutionary struggles in Central America drew emphasis to the problems of SC & coalitions, SC struggle, & national & international negotiation. In the 1980s, the dominant preoccupations in the countries with a constitutional regime centered on tensions between democracy & crisis. Latin American social thinking & the social sciences investigations must confront the "Second Cold War," which has bases for legitimation not only in the US but also in Europe, & not only in neoliberal thinking, but in neo-Marxist thinking as well. Modified AA