Dissonances: Democratic Critiques of Democracy

Chapter 6. Social Sciences in Latin America: Looking at the Past and Glancing at the Future

c h a p t e r 6 Social Sciences in Latin America Looking at the Past and Glancing at the Future On an occasion such as this, I suppose it is diYcult not to adopt a reminiscent tone, although it need not be a melancholic one. An honor like this is an almost irresistible invitation to look at the past. Of course, it is necessary to avoid the temptation to look at one’s own works in a narcissistic way. Instead, I propose to look back and try to reconstruct certain aspects and moments that surrounded, inspired , and motivated my work, in order to derive some reflections that may be of interest in the present. I find very appropriate the general topic of this congress, “The Global and Local Dimensions: Rethinking Area Studies.” Thus, I have taken this topic as an invitation to organize my reminiscences. To begin with, it seems obvious that Latin American plastic arts, literature , poetry, and, more recently, cinematography have universal meaning and impact, but they have it because they are so identifiable as Latin American. It would be risky to argue that Latin American social Except for a few minor adjustments, this is a translation of the speech I made when I received the Kalman Silvert Award at the LASA Congress, April 2003, in Dallas. I thank the colleagues who took part in the decision concerning this award, Peter Smith and Tom Holloway for their generous comments on my work, and all those who accompanied me in such a pleasant and unforgettable moment. 139 140 DISSONANCES and historical sciences have achieved or deserved such impact and meaning. But it is no less true that we have made some contributions based on the historical specificities of Latin America that have achieved a high level of interest and diVusion far from our region. I think that this happened not only because these contributions showed these specificities, but also because they referred to subjects and problems that, despite their unique characteristics in each region, arose, and still arise, in other parts of the world. One always thinks and writes from some place, from some historical and social circumstance, and often against some interpretation of this place. Except for those who wrongly believe that social knowledge can be an aseptic science, one is always situated, consciously or not—and it is better that one is conscious—in some debate or struggle of ideas. This is at least my personal experience, and as far as I know, that of the best of Latin American social sciences and history. I will refer to contributions to the study of Latin America. This means contributions made by Latin Americans, and also by non–Latin Americans who understood the problems of our region in their own terms and who, from this starting point, made very valuable contributions to the knowledge of our countries. Indeed, not every Latin Americanist fits this profile, but not a few, including many present here, do. To them, after so many encounters, discussions, and collaborations undertaken as authentic peers in the pursuit of knowledge, go my fraternal greetings. What I have just said implies criticizing the fallacy of the attacks against area studies. These attacks ignore the fact that they are also written from some place. It happens that this place is a dominant center , which, because it is such a center, tends not to recognize itself as one place among many others. Rather, as has been the historical temptation of dominant centers from Rome and imperial Great Britain to the present United States, some of their intellectuals believe they are bearers of a universal point of view in the face of the particularities of the rest of the world. Latin American social sciences have produced, produce, and must continue producing both data and theories. In particular, I do not think that the contributions I will comment upon belong to a museum of ideas. They posed problems and studied themes that are, at least in some senses, of great present interest. Surely, the specific his- Social Sciences in Latin America 141 torical and social conditions of our region aVected these contributions ; to continue making these contextually situated studies, and to maintain high academic standards, implies refusing to reproduce, in the social sciences and in history, an equation very similar to the one of Latin America’s original dependence. I refer to...