First, I would like to clarify what the term means. Think tank: They are experts from an academic field who analyze, study, research and propose ideas and solutions to political actors or organizations. Inserted into the political sphere, They aim to influence not only public opinion but also reality through different proposals.. According to Dickson, a think tank “involves linking knowledge to power and science and technology to the development of.” public policy” (Dickson, in Mitchell et al., sf: 95). In short, it acts “as a bridge between the academic community and the political community, between the state and civil society” (McGann, in Mitchell et al., sf: 95).
The intellectual They belong to a certain area, the intellectual area. Norberto Bobbio points out that when defining intellectuals it is important to take into account the historical moment and the circumstances in which this historical moment is inserted, since nothing is isolated.
In this sense, all those agents who have the task “to develop and disseminate the knowledge, theories, doctrines, ideologies, worldviews, or simple opinions that constitute the system of ideas of a given society.” (Bobbio, in Olamendi, SF p. 27).
Raul Alfonsin He surrounded himself with intellectuals and groups of intellectuals who collaborated in shaping public policy and contributed ideas and concepts to the writing of the speeches. The clearest case is that of North Park that Alfonsín announced on December 1, 1985 before the National Committee of the Republic Radical Citizens’ Union. But essentially they helped to shape Alfonsín’s political thinking more deeply. These posts come from democratic socialismas well as political liberalism.
The intellectuals who worked with the radical leader came from seven groups:
1) the Group of research centers in public administrationconsisting of the Center for Social Research on State and Administration (CISEA), the Center for State and Society Studies (CEDES) and the Institute for Economic and Social Development (IDES).
2) the Political Participation Center Group (CPP)
3) the Socialist Culture Club Group
4) the Emerald group
5) the group of lawyers and legal philosophers
6) the Foundation for Change in Democracy Group (FUCADE)
7) the “organic” intellectuals of radicalism.
It is necessary to highlight the figure Rodolfo Terragnowho, although he did not belong to any particular group, was another important intellectual who took part in government from 1987. He later joined the ranks of radicalism; He even became president of the National Committee of the Radical Civic Union. It is worth noting that the main intellectuals associated with Alfonsinism in the 1980s were experts and/or professionals associated with the social sciences: sociologists, political scientists, economists, lawyers and philosophers.
Serious intellectuals
The vast majority of the intellectuals who surrounded Alfonsín, regardless of what group they belonged to or where they came from, had university experience (e.g. postgraduate studies) or a stay abroad. In addition, some of them had to go into exile. This is the case of Portantiero and De Ípola in Mexico; Caputo and Roulet in France; Oszlak and Cavarozzi in the United States; Malamud Goti in Germany; Nino in England, Germany and the United States; and Carrio also in England. The list goes on. The experience of exile and the postgraduate studies of the intellectuals around Alfonsín were of the utmost importance, or rather essential.
All groups really were in one way or another and at one time or another Think tanks of Alfonsinism. For his part, Alfonsín was the leader of a group of intellectuals who thought differently about the country. It also created the necessary space for progressive thinking in Argentina to take place on the national political stage. The fact that intellectuals were instrumental in bridging the intellectual field and the political field in the 1980s was new not only for the history of radicalism but also for the country.
All of this was analyzed in detail in my book Raúl Alfonsín and the intellectuals. An approach to political liberalism from Parque Nortewith a prologue by Martín Farrell and a preliminary study by Fabián Bosoer – both intellectuals who accompanied Alfonsín -; and which was published by the National University of Córdoba Publishing House and the EUDEBA Publishing House of the University of Buenos Aires.
About The Author
