Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales

Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales
https://www.clacso.org/ · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Name	Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales
Native name	Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales
Abbreviation	CLACSO
Formation	1967
Headquarters	Buenos Aires
Region served	Latin America and the Caribbean
Membership	research centers, universities, institutes
Leader title	Secretary General

Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales is a network of research institutions and scholars founded in 1967 that coordinates social science research and policy dialogue across Latin America and the Caribbean. It connects academic centers, universities, think tanks, and nongovernmental organizations to support collaborative research, capacity building, and policy engagement across Buenos Aires, Santiago, Mexico City, Bogotá, and Brasilia. The organization interacts with international agencies, foundations, and multilateral bodies to influence regional debates and support comparative studies involving the Caribbean and Andean subregions.

History

CLACSO was founded amid the Cold War context that involved actors such as Ernesto Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Juan Domingo Perón, Gabriel García Márquez, and regional intellectuals responding to developmental debates associated with Raúl Prebisch, Raúl Alfonsín, Hugo Chávez, and Salvador Allende. Early meetings gathered representatives from Universidad de Buenos Aires, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Universidad de Chile, Universidad de São Paulo, and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile to address agrarian reform, dependency theory, and cultural policy influenced by texts linked to Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Theotonio dos Santos, and Andre Gunder Frank. In the 1970s and 1980s CLACSO navigated authoritarian regimes including those led by Augusto Pinochet, Jorge Rafael Videla, Alfredo Stroessner, and Anastasio Somoza, coordinating exile networks and linking scholars associated with Oscar Arias, Pablo Neruda, and Domitila Barrios de Chungara. During the 1990s CLACSO engaged debates tied to Washington Consensus, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and regional processes such as Mercosur and the North American Free Trade Agreement era. In the 21st century CLACSO expanded partnerships with United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Inter-American Development Bank, and foundations like Ford Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, and Open Society Foundations.

Organization and Governance

The network assembles member centers from institutions such as Centro de Estudios Sociales (CES)],] Instituto de Investigaciones Gino Germani, Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos Rómulo Gallegos, Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, and Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social under statutes modeled on international federations like International Social Science Council and Academia Nacional de Ciencias. Governance includes an executive secretariat based in Buenos Aires, an academic council with representatives from Universidad de la República (Uruguay), Universidad Central de Venezuela, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and a general assembly that convenes delegates from national research councils such as Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología. Leadership roles mirror structures in organizations like Organisation of American States, with thematic committees on gender and development linked to networks associated with María Lugones, Néstor García Canclini, Boaventura de Sousa Santos, and Santos P..

Programs and Activities

CLACSO runs regional programs comparable to initiatives by Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), offering capacity building, doctoral consortia, and online courses in partnership with Universidad de Salamanca, Universidad de Cambridge, University of Oxford, Harvard University, and Yale University. Projects address issues studied by scholars linked to Aníbal Quijano, Arturo Escobar, Walter Mignolo, and Ivone Gebara and coordinate networks on indigenous rights connected to actors such as Rigoberta Menchú, Evo Morales, Pablo Krekewich and environmental movements associated with Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), Via Campesina, and Frente Amplio. CLACSO organizes thematic congresses and regional seminars that attract participants from Caribbean Community, Andean Community, Union of South American Nations, and multilateral bodies including United Nations Development Programme and Pan American Health Organization.

Publications and Research Networks

The council publishes working papers, edited volumes, and open-access series akin to publications from Latin American Research Review, Revista de Estudios Sociales, Desacatos, and edited collections involving editors like Nora Lustig, Carlos Taibo, and Eduardo Galeano. CLACSO fosters research networks on gender studies tied to Lélia Gonzalez, Pia Riggirozzi, and María Elena Orozco, on human rights linked to Inter-American Commission on Human Rights cases, and on social movements connected to Movimiento 26 de Julio and Comunidad de Madrid events. Digital repositories mirror initiatives by SciELO and Redalyc and host theses affiliated with Consejo Nacional de la Cultura y las Artes and university presses such as Editorial Siglo XXI.

Regional and International Influence

CLACSO has shaped debates in policy arenas frequented by Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, World Social Forum, Summit of the Americas, and meetings with officials from Brazilian Ministry of Education, Argentine Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation, and Mexican Secretariat of Public Education. Its expertise informs commissions and dialogues involving figures like Ricardo Lagos, Michelle Bachelet, Tabaré Vázquez, and organizational coalitions including Global Fund, Amnesty International, and Oxfam International. CLACSO networks often collaborate on comparative projects with centers connected to European Union research programs, Helsinki Process institutes, and agencies such as UNESCO.

Criticisms and Controversies

Critiques of CLACSO have referenced alleged partialities in funding distribution similar to disputes involving Ford Foundation and Open Society Foundations, debates over ideological orientation reminiscent of tensions between neoliberal critics and proponents associated with Pink Tide administrations, and controversies about academic autonomy tied to episodes in countries like Venezuela, Argentina, and Chile. Scholars associated with Diego Abente and Mario Pedrosa have raised methodological disputes paralleling controversies in journals such as Nueva Sociedad and debates involving Latin American Studies Association. Discussions around access, transparency, and the balance between activism and scholarship echo controversies seen in transnational networks such as World Social Forum and policy platforms like Inter-American Dialogue.

Category:Research organizations in Latin America