Multiple Dependencies: Chile's Flacso and Its Funders.

This paper examines UNESCO’s and Ford's involvement in establishing the Latin American Faculty for the Social Sciences (FLACSO). Originally based in Santiago de Chile, FLACSO was the first and eventually highly influential Latin American graduate program in the social sciences. UNESCO did make efforts to develop specialized knowledge by sending experts to Santiago for long-term stays; however, because UNESCO officers never adopted practices that philanthropic foundations mastered, like regular field trips, UNESCO staff in Paris lacked appropriate local knowledge. As a result, local scholars became more prominent and influential within FLACSO than UNESCO originally intended. Another reason why UNESCO’s wherewithal was limited is that UNESCO was only one of the involved donors, along with several Latin American countries and the Ford Foundation. Ford, however, was cautious and limited its involvement to specific programs within FLACSO. Its lasting importance as a FLACSO donor began after 1973, when repression and other circumstances allowed Ford to shape the agenda and work routines of a number of Santiago-based scholars. As a shadow comparative case, the paper describes the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations’ attempt to institutionalize “scientific sociology” and modernization theory in Argentina by supporting Gino Germani, one of the local leaders. The paper relies heavily on official documents preserved in the UNESCO and Ford archives. The paper further exploits the approximately forty reports written by UNESCO mission experts and some autobiographical writings by local scholars.