From Golden Age to Dangerous Subversives: Argentinian Science under Frail Democracies and Military Regimes (1955–1973)

• In Event: Advocating for Science in Contemporary States of Authoritarianism

Abstract

In this presentation we explore the progressive politicization of Argentine scientists and the construction of the country’s scientific and academic community as “dangerous” by successive military governments in the highly conflictive 1955-1973 period. Since internal processes within nation states cannot be detached from external conditions, we analyze the relationship between scientists and authoritarian regimes in Argentina against the larger backdrop of US foreign policy towards Latin America during the Cold War. We first characterize the “Golden Age” of Argentina’s sciences and universities, the ongoing public debates about science policy and development models, and the mounting sociopolitical tension during the frail, interrupted democratic governments of 1955-1966. We then discuss the implications of the 1966 military coup led by general Juan Carlos Onganía, the first military dictator who conceived of his regime as a permanent bureaucratic state, and not as a temporary intervention as had hitherto been the case in the country. Of special interest is the Noche de los Bastones Largos (“Night of the Long Batons”), the violent eviction of professors, researchers and students from the facilities of the University of Buenos Aires by Federal police forces, one of the most explicit affronts against free thought in Argentinian history. We conclude by outlining some of the reactions and strategies adopted by the Argentinian scientific community, the long-lasting sociopolitical consequences of this period for Argentine science, and its epistemological influence on the development of original Latin American thought on STS.

Author

• Lucia Cespedes