Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2011
Abstract
Although home to 8% of the world's population (Guarda 2002), only 1.7% of the scholarly knowledge about Latin America is produced domestically (UNESCO 2010). The limited voice of Latin American scholars in Latin American studies constitutes a loss of a valuable and unique cultural perspective which is aggravated by the fact that the research object is Latin America itself. The failure of Latin American intellectuals to claim a prominent place on the international academic stage has not been explained and cannot be attributed simply to lack of academic knowledge exposure (Alperin, Fischman et al. 2008). To address this gap in the literature, we interviewed Latin American studies scholars residing in Latin America as well those residing in the US and UK to reveal how and to what extent these scholars participate in the international academic community. Our findings show that the groups differ markedly in terms of personal vision, motivation, research agenda, scholarship focus and preferred outlets for their knowledge production. In particular, Latin American scholars identify as agents of change, motivated by a desire to solve problems and fulfill social needs in the region while scholars residing in the US and UK see themselves as experts in the field, driven by a desire to impact the knowledge about the region. Our results should be of interest to governments, universities and professional associations, hoping to facilitate the production, and dissemination of knowledge about the Latin American region.
Keywords
knowledge production, knowledge sharing, knowledge dissemination, Latin American scholarship, publishing, Latin American studies higher-education
Rights
© The Author(s). Kelvin Smith Library provides access for non-commercial, personal, or research use only. All other use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly reproductions, redistribution, publication or transmission, whether by electronic means or otherwise, without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
Department/Center
Design & Innovation
Recommended Citation
Pereyra-Rojas, Milagros, "Impact On Society Versus Impact On Knowledge: Scholarly Production And Sharing In Latin American Studies" (2011). Student Scholarship. 250.
https://commons.case.edu/studentworks/250