Janneth Aldana Cedeño – författare

This Palgrave Pivot presents a historical reflection about the development of sociology in Colombia from the late nineteenth century into the mid-twentieth century, a period in which the process of professionalization in the discipline occurred due to the creation of university training programs, as well as the extension of research centers and groups nationwide. The book exposes the different interrelations at the local, regional and international ambits that, only in part, offer a similar panorama to what happened in other Latin American processes in relation to the academic institutionalization of sociology. The role of international networks and government initiatives, national and foreign, was central to this development and, in general, to the take-off of sociology in the country, as happened in others nations such as Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. This book argues that, in Colombia, having these networks and initiatives during the Cold Wargenerated various tensions, which appeared early, between these forms of financing as a political effort to contain left movements in the region (especially after the Cuban Revolution) and the attempt to achieve an autonomous science. However, the Colombian case presents some peculiarities in the configuration of sociology at the national level. These are associated, to a large extent, with the phenomena that have been decisive in the history of the country: a nation without dictatorships between 1960 and 1970, unlike other South American countries, but with a restricted democracy that even today offers difficulties in order to accept alternative forces. This book also considers the effects of the longest armed conflict known in the continent and its own historical transformations in the face of the role played by various actors such as guerrillas, drug trafficking and paramilitary groups. The book thus discusses, under a specific case study, the role of science as well as the possibilities of social transformation through human action. This book constitutes not only a journey on the academic institutionalization and the professional practice of sociology in Colombia; it is also an opportunity to think about what is coming in this field in a possible post-conflict scenario.

This Palgrave Pivot presents a historical reflection about the development of sociology in Colombia from the late nineteenth century into the mid-twentieth century, a period in which the process of professionalization in the discipline occurred due to the creation of university training programs, as well as the extension of research centers and groups nationwide. The book exposes the different interrelations at the local, regional and international ambits that, only in part, offer a similar panorama to what happened in other Latin American processes in relation to the academic institutionalization of sociology. The role of international networks and government initiatives, national and foreign, was central to this development and, in general, to the take-off of sociology in the country, as happened in others nations such as Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. This book argues that, in Colombia, having these networks and initiatives during the Cold Wargenerated various tensions, which appeared early, between these forms of financing as a political effort to contain left movements in the region (especially after the Cuban Revolution) and the attempt to achieve an autonomous science. However, the Colombian case presents some peculiarities in the configuration of sociology at the national level. These are associated, to a large extent, with the phenomena that have been decisive in the history of the country: a nation without dictatorships between 1960 and 1970, unlike other South American countries, but with a restricted democracy that even today offers difficulties in order to accept alternative forces. This book also considers the effects of the longest armed conflict known in the continent and its own historical transformations in the face of the role played by various actors such as guerrillas, drug trafficking and paramilitary groups. The book thus discusses, under a specific case study, the role of science as well as the possibilities of social transformation through human action. This book constitutes not only a journey on the academic institutionalization and the professional practice of sociology in Colombia; it is also an opportunity to think about what is coming in this field in a possible post-conflict scenario.

Este libro acoge una polifonía de voces sobre el oficio sociológico en Colombia desde los años sesenta hasta el presente, a partir de los relatos biográficos de 53 sociólogos y sociólogas. Estos relatos del oficio discurren por cuatro situaciones generacionales que favorecen la activación y recuperación de las singularidades biográficas y de los entramados contextuales de sus protagonistas, lo cual permite al lector y a la lectora entrever cómo se configuró la práctica sociológica en el país a lo largo de seis décadas. Es decir, los relatos del oficio nos conectan con hitos intelectuales disciplinares de relevancia, con acontecimientos políticos e históricos significativos para el país y para los sociólogos y sociólogas entrevistadas, con los avatares de la disciplina en el mundo de lo público-privado y con el universo de las organizaciones y movimientos sociales a los que estuvieron o están conectados estos profesionales. Además, estos relatos del oficio dan cuenta de artesanías de trabajo y de la importancia de los espacios de sociabilidad, las redes y los circuitos intelectuales y culturales que resultaron más relevantes para cada uno de sus protagonistas en el desarrollo de la disciplina y la profesión.

El presente documento es, en principio, la reconstrucción de la trayectoria intelectual del actor, director, dramaturgo y teórico del teatro colombiano Santiago García. La relevancia de su trabajo artístico es incuestionable en los ámbitos nacional y regional, pues se trata de uno de los referentes latinoamericanos en la búsqueda de un arte propio, original y comprometido con los problemas más acuciantes de la sociedad.Dicha reconstrucción cubre, además, dos esferas más amplias de lo que podría entenderse estrictamente como una biografía. Una de ellas, es la historia cultural y política del país durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX y lo que va del XXI; las oportunidades creativas de un artista se ubican en unas condiciones de posibilidad socialmente dadas, históricamente configuradas, que cargan con una tradición que no siempre es fácil transformar. La otra, es la interpretación del arte como un asunto del esfuerzo adelantado por los seres humanos en aras de una comprensión más adecuada de la realidad y, ¿por qué no?, de su posible transformación.