De-institutionalizing Science: revolution and public policies
Keywords:
Institutionalism and Neoinstitutionalism, History and philosophy of science, Fascism, Knowledge politics
Abstract
This paper states a problem: in Latin America science is born and develops institutionalized. The name it acquires is public policies of science (and technology). Undoubtedly, such is science “from the top”. All existing systems and mechanism of knowledge management are such from the top to the ground policies, plans, programs and actions. Against such a state of things, this article argues that it is compulsory to de-institutionalize science and research if we want them to be critical, free, liberating. Four arguments support the claim; firstly, science is or a repository of truths and experiments, but a mindset or an attitude. The second argument says that institutionalized science is academic capitalism, centered around management and administration. The third one affirms that institutionalism and neoinstitutionalism are truly fascism. The fourth argument suggests that de-institutionalizing science is the gate, so to speak to also de-institutionalize life, which is the real concern after all. At the end some conclusions are drawn.
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STANLEY, J., (2024). Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future. Atria/One Signal Publkishers
STENGERS, I., (2019). Otra ciencia es posible. Manifiesto por una desaceleración de la ciencia. Barcelona: Ed. NED
TOSCANO, A., (2023). Late Fascism. Race, Capitalism and the Politics of Crisis. Verso
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VEITH, Jr. G. E., (1993). Modern Fascism. The Threat to the Judeo-Christian Worldview. Concordia Pub House
WATSON, P., (2017). Convergencias. El orden subyacente en el corazón de la ciencia. Barcelona: Crítica
BANVILLE, J., (2022). Tetralogía científica. Copérnico, Kepler, La carta de Newton, Mefisto. Madrid: Alfaguara
BEN-GHIAT, R., (2021). Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present. New York: W. W. Norton & Company
BURKE, P., (2024). Historia social del conocimiento, vol. I. De Gutenberg a Diderot. Barcelona: Paidós
BURKE, P., (1998). Los avatares del cortesano. Lecturas y lectores de un texto clave del espíritu renacentista. Barcelona: Gedisa
BURKHARDT, J., (1952). La cultura del Renacimiento en Italia. Buenos Aires: Editorial Losada
CEREIJIDO, M., (2004). Por qué no tenemos ciencia. México, D. F.: Siglo XXI Editores
CORNWELL, J., (2005). Los científicos de Hitler. Barcelona: Paidós
COSER, L., (1978). Las instituciones voraces. México, D. F.: F. C. E.
CREATON, J., (2021). “Addressing the mental health crisis”, en: Nat Rev Cancer, Jan;21(1):1-2. doi: 10.1038/s41568-020-00319-9. PMID: 33203999; PMCID: PMC7670486
DAVIS, L. E., NORTH, D. C., (1971). Institutional Change and American Economic Growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
DOUGLAS, M., (1996). Cómo piensan las instituciones. Madrid: Alianza
ECO, U., (2020). How to Spot a Fascist. Harvill Secker
FERRANTE, L., (2012). Aprenda de la mafia. Para alcanzar el éxito de su empresa (legal). Conecta
GOLDBERG, J., (2009). Liberal Fascism. The Secret History of the American eft, from Mussolini to the Politics of Change. New York: Broadway Books
GUTHRIE, S., LICHTEN, C.A., VAN BELLE, J., BALL, S., KNACK, A., HOFMAN, J., (2018). “Understanding mental health in the research environment: A Rapid Evidence Assessment”, en: Rand Health Q. Apr 1;7(3):2. PMID: 29607246; PMCID: PMC5873519
JEPPERSON, R. L., MEYER, J. W., (2021). Institutional Theory: The Cultural Construction of Organizations, States, and Identities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
JESSOP, B., 2017). “On academic capitalism”, en: Critical Policy Studies, vol. 12, issue 1, págs. 104-109; doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2017.1403342
KAISER, D., (2012). “In retrospect: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”, en: Nature 484, 164–165. https://doi.org/10.1038/484164a
KUHN, T., (1992). La estructura de las revoluciones científicas. México, D. F.: F. C. E.
LANDA, I., (2018). Fascism and the Masses. The Revolt Against the Last Humans, 1848-1945. London: Routledge
LEVIT, G. S., and HOSSFELD, U., (2022). “Ernst Mayr’s Critique of Thomas Kuhn”, en: Epistemology and Philosophy of Science, 59 (4):163-180. Doi: https://doi.org/10.5840/eps202259463
LOMAS, R., (2003). The Invisible College: The Royal Society, Freemasonry, and the Birth of Modern Science. Headline Paperbacks
MACFADDEN, J., (2022). La vida es simple. La navaja de Occam y la nueva historia de la ciencia y el universo. Barcelona: Paidós
MALDONADO, C. E., (2023) “Cuatro modos insurgentes de justificación de la investigación”, en: Revista de Epistemología y Ciencias Sociales, No. 16, agosto, págs. 14-30; disponible en: https://www.revistaepistemologia.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/www.revistaepistemologia.com.ar-revista-completa-numero-16-con-7-articulos-editada.pdf
MALDONADO, C. E., (2021). “De la ciencia lenta al pensar: el horizonte de la sabiduría”, en: Revista Thelos, 1(12): págs. 18-37; disponible en: https://thelos.utem.cl/articulos/de-la-ciencia-lenta-al-pensar-el-horizonte-de-la-sabiduria/
MBEMBE, A., (2019). Necropolitics. Durham and London: Duke University Press
MEYER, J. W. and ROWAN, B., (1977). “Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structures as Myth and Ceremony”, en: The American Journal of Sociology, vol. 83, No. 2, septiembre, págs. 340-363; doi: https://doi.org/10.1086/226550
NICHOLLS, H., NICHOLLS, M., TEKIN, S., LAMB, D., BILLINGS, J., (2022). “The impact of working in academia on researchers' mental health and well-being: A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis”, en: PLoS One, May 25;17(5):e0268890. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268890. PMID: 35613147; PMCID: PMC9132292
PALLEY, T. I. (2024). “Neoliberalism and the Drift to Proto-Fascism: Political and Economic Causes of the Crisis of Liberal Democracy”, en: Journal of Economic Issues, 58(3), 732–755. https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.2024.2381414
PATNIAK, P. (2020). “Neoliberalism and Fascism”, en: Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, 9(1), 33-49. https://doi.org/10.1177/2277976019901029
POSKETT, J., (2022). Horizontes. Una historia global de la ciencia. Barcelona: Crítica
REICH, W., (2014). Psicología de masas del fascismo. DDT Banatek Ediciones
SEMANATE QUIÑONEZ, H. A., & LEÓN BARRETO, F. A. (2014). “El conocimiento vernáculo como generador de desarrollo local”, en: Perspectiva Geográfica, (17), 259–281. https://doi.org/10.19053/01233769.2271
SHERRAT, Y., (2022). Los filósofos de Hitler. Madrid: Cátedra
SLAUGHTER, S., and ROADHES, G., (2009). Academic Capitalism and the New Economy. Johns Hopkins University Press
STANLEY, J., (2024). Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future. Atria/One Signal Publkishers
STENGERS, I., (2019). Otra ciencia es posible. Manifiesto por una desaceleración de la ciencia. Barcelona: Ed. NED
TOSCANO, A., (2023). Late Fascism. Race, Capitalism and the Politics of Crisis. Verso
VEBLEN, T., (1898). “Why is Economics Not an Evolutionary Science?, en: The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 12, Issue 4, July 1898, Pages 373–397, https://doi.org/10.2307/1882952
VEBLEN, T., (1998). “Why is economics not an evolutionary science?, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Volume 22, Issue 4, July, Pages 403–414, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.cje.a013725
VEITH, Jr. G. E., (1993). Modern Fascism. The Threat to the Judeo-Christian Worldview. Concordia Pub House
WATSON, P., (2017). Convergencias. El orden subyacente en el corazón de la ciencia. Barcelona: Crítica
Published
2025-04-01
How to Cite
MALDONADO, C. (2025). De-institutionalizing Science: revolution and public policies . Utopía Y Praxis Latinoamericana, 30(109), e15096925. Retrieved from https://mail.produccioncientificaluz.org/index.php/utopia/article/view/e15096925
Section
Artículos
