Circulation internationale et formation d’une “ecole de pensee” latino-americaine (1945-2000)

Abstract

Study abroad has long been a favorite strategy of the Latin American ruling classes for acquiring the credentials that will win them a choice position among the elites of their native country. The growth of the “globalization” theme has reinforced the importance of foreign study as a sort of attestation of one’s capacity for international mobility, thus increasing the interest of studies on the international circulation of academics, which enhance our understanding of the changes in science on a global scale. This article discusses the relative importance of the circulation of social science doctoral students and researchers inside and outside Latin America. It examines the statistics on the countries chosen by Brazilian doctoral candidates and shows that their choice of Latin American countries has dropped off in the last 15 years. This contrasts sharply with the importance of Santiago (Chile), headquarters of the CEPAL and home of the theories on development and dependence of Latin American countries. A study of the social trajectories of the economist Celso Furtado and the sociologist Fernando Henrique Cardoso makes it possible to analyze the social and cultural capital invested in the work of the CEPAL and the emergence of the theoretical tools constructed through the use of the concepts of development and dependence. However, Pinochet’s 1973 coup d’état seems to have tarnished Santiago’s appeal as one of Latin America’s top-ranking cosmopolitan centers.