ON THE PERIPHERY OF THE CULTURAL COLD WAR: THE SOCIOLOGICAL TURN OF THE CONGRESS FOR CULTURAL FREEDOM IN LATIN AMERICA DURING THE 1960S.Abstract
This article analyzes the interaction between the Congress for Cultural Freedom and the community of Latin American sociologists in the 1960s, highlighting the role of the Latin American Institute of International Relations (ILARI), directed by the Belgian Louis Mercier Vega. The text explains why and how ILARI employed “scientific sociology” as a tool to promote its “anti-totalitarian” agenda, and the intellectual outputs of this operation. The article analyzes the correspondence between Mercier, his associates, and sociologists in the region to argue that ILARI’s “sociological turn” relied on the collective work of Latin American sociologists, which promoted the circulation of peripheral intellectual agendas that did not fit into the liberal-conservative model of the CCF.
Keywords
Cultural Cold War; Congress for Cultural Freedom; ILARI; Latin American sociology; periphery