DZHW-LCSS research colloquium on 03.04.2023

The DZHW and LCSS invites you to the next joint research colloquium on 03.04.2023. With a view to South America, Prof. Dr. Philipp Altmann (Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito) will present excerpts from his research. The title of his presentation is: "University and Sociology in Ecuador".  

The presentation will take place in presence from 16.15h in the Festsaal of the Royal Horse Stable (Appelstr. 7, 30167 Hannover). You will find the abstract of the presentation below.

Abstract of the presentation "University and Sociology in Ecuador".

The introduction of sociology -beginning in 1915 as a course in the study of law- is a central element in the modernization of the university in Ecuador. It is linked to the attempt to provide prospective lawyers with a knowledge of society that can help them for positions in government or higher public service. Therefore, until the 1960s, the social sciences were understood as knowledge of domination; the population was to be educated by a benevolent and educated elite. It is little surprise, therefore, that this early Ecuadorian sociology built primarily on Herbert Spencer and an organizist understanding of society, and on Gabriel Tarde and his theory of innovation and imitation.

This only changes with the modernization of the university towards a scientifically based professional education since the 1950s. Student numbers increase, the first full-time professorships are created. Sociology in legal education is supplemented by a political science course at the Universidad Central in Quito starting in 1961. In the course of a more far-reaching reform from 1963 to 1967, attempts are made to establish the U.S. college system in Ecuador. In this context, full-time positions for professors were spread and a central enrollment system was introduced. A sociology program was established at the new Faculty of Basic Sciences in 1964.

This attempt at modernization fails; from 1967 onward, the Universidad Central and the other universities are much more politicized. This is accompanied by a generational change. Sociology in particular is defined by young researchers, often educated in Europe or the United States, who want to break with the earlier tradition and build a critical and Marxist sociology. By the 1980s, a new canon for Ecuadorian sociology was forming, which would also define the new sociology programs that were emerging at other universities. From the mid-1980s, a long crisis begins, first on the economic level due to high inflation a drastic devaluation of salaries, then on the political level due to the end of the Soviet Union.

This talk is based on the book "Sociology in Ecuador", published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2022. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-14429-5

We look forward to your numerous participation and a lively discussion, gladly also with a subsequent drink in the restaurant "Kaisers".