Abstract

TORRES, Carlos Alberto; ROMAO, José Eustáquio  and  TEODORO, António. Institutional networks in Latin America: Building contemporary social sciences and education. Rev. Lusófona de Educação [online]. 2012, n.21, pp.13-32. ISSN 1645-7250.

The creation of institutional networks in the recent history of Latin America has played a crucial role in the shaping and consolidation of the Social and Educational Sciences. These processes can be explained within the framework of the so-called knowledge and social reflexivity society. Both the emergence of a networking society and the growing access to information are simultaneously resulting in and the result of knowledge and social networks, which at the same time are reflected in specific experiences in the field of education. Even if they do not cover the whole range of existing networks, some of the most relevant instances of institutional networks within the domain of the educational and social sciences in Latin America are presented. They are all an expression of a collaborative work dynamics and of a dialogic form of knowledge building and management. First, the contribution of three initiatives that began and were developed in the second half of the 20th century, namely, 1) the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales, or CLACSO) created in Buenos Aires in 1964; 2) the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales or FLACSO), created in 1957, launched by UNESCO, with the support of several regional governments; and 3) the Latin American Network of Information and Documentation on Education (Red Latinoamericana de Información y Documentación en Educación, REDUC), created in 1977 with the aim of keeping a record of educational productions in the region. In addition, the ongoing initiatives of the Iberoamerican Research on Educational Policies Network (Red Iberoamericana de Investigación en Políticas Educativa RIAIPE), starting in 2006 with the participation of Higher Education Latin American and European institutions are introduced as an illustration of a singular experience of the first decade o f the 21 st century.

Keywords : institutional networks; education; knowledge society; social sciences; Latin America.

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