Article

Dados n. 19 Rio de Janeiro 1978

Universidade, Ciência e Subdesenvolvimento

Schwartzman, Simon

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of universities in the developing countries, with special emphasis on their importance as centers of educational training and scientific research. An analysis of India and Japan addresses the question of the particular conditions under which Western science can be successfully transplanted to radically different cultural and historical contexts. A study of the Iberian experience at its golden age shows that an expansion of the educational and economic systems took place in the 16th century, but subsequent political and economic decadence and particularly the influence of the inquisition prevented the establishment of a solid scientific tradition. A look at the Latin American university experience leads the author to conclude that the political militance of these institutions does not preclude, but may even go hand in hand with, a conservative approach to intellectual and scientific pursuits. The problems involved in introducing modem scientific training in the universities of developing countries have often led (as in the case of Brazil and Turkey) to the emergence of academically successful independent institutions, which operate outside the traditional educational systems and leave the latter unchanged. However, these successful experiments in institutionalized scientific training have been able to break away from traditional educational patterns and are thus potentially important sources of innovation in cultural, intellectual and scientific organization and activity for their respective countries.

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