Institutionalization and heterogeneous development of scientific capacities at the National University of San Juan, Argentina

a long-term view (1973-2018)

Abstract

This article examines the process of institutionalization and the main stages of development of the socalled “scientific capacities” at the National University of San Juan (Argentina). Articulating the specialized literature, documentary sources and oral testimonies, a long-term analytical scheme is proposed. It includes the stages of genesis and authoritarian restructuring (1973-1983); democratic re-institutionalization (1983-1989); structural hierarchy (1990- 2002); and heterogeneous development (2003-2018). The main conclusion is that the historical relationship-tension between institutional autonomy and political power encouraged processes of asymmetric expansion/consolidation between disciplines, research units, and university agents.