History
The Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) created in 1957 is an international, intergovernmental, regional and academic and plural organization, made up of 18 Member States and two extra-regional observers, to promote teaching and research in the field of Social Sciences. FLACSO carries out academic activities in 13 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
https://flacso.org/index.php/en/sistema
The government in Uruguay ratified the adhesion of the Republic of Uruguay to the FLACSO Agreement in 2006, thus establishing the FLACSO Uruguay Project. FLACSO Uruguay is recognized as an international organization operating in Uruguay.
In May 2014, FLACSO’s regional bodies approved the upgrading of FLACSO Uruguay to the category of “Program”. This new status enables the headquarters to offer the Masters degree level.
FLACSO Uruguay carries out academic diplomacy with the aim of fostering ties of knowledge and friendship between peoples and cultures.
Archive
The Luis Morquio Archive and Library, which belongs to the Inter-American Children’s Institute, was created in 1927. It was initiated by the Uruguayan paediatrician Luis Morquio as part of the establishment of the Inter-American Children’s Institute. Its current headquarters are located in Montevideo, at 2884 8 de Octubre Street.
The Inter-American Children’s Institute Archive is one of the longest-standing institutions within the Inter-American system. It was established with the objective of maintaining and preserving the documentation recorded by each Member State. The documentation comprises a wealth of works by individuals involved in actions and knowledge related to children and adolescents across the American continent.
The Luis Morquio Library and Documentation Collection represents a significant cultural and documentary heritage for the peoples of the Americas, providing a unique record of key historical events affecting children and adolescents on our continent. Its collection is of relevance for research with medical, legal, historical, pedagogical, and sociological perspectives. The library contains over 20,000 volumes, in addition to thousands of uncatalogued documents.
Since 2012, the archive has been in a state of neglect. The archivist and librarian have ceased to work there, the roofs have been leaking, and the documentation is getting damp. The archive’s documentation is at significant risk of being lost if it is not waterproofed and brought to a temperature suitable for its required preservation.
In 2020, the Inter-American Institute entered into an agreement with FLACSO Uruguay, whereby the latter assumed custody of the archive. In 2021, 2022, and 2023, the archive received aid from IberArchivos Spain, which enabled it to restore, classify, and relocate part of the collection to a room with suitable conditions for its preservation. As the only place in the world where they are preserved, the collection of the ‘Pan American Child Congresses‘ was named Memory of the World by UNESCO in April 2024.
In the meantime, the rest of the collection continues to deteriorate, which highlights the urgent need to raise funds to refurbish the building and ensure it meets documentary conservation standards. To this end, we have an architectural refurbishment project in place to carry out repairs to the building.
Creation of Arab Studies Centre in FLACSO Uruguay
Interactions and relations between Arab and Latin American peoples. Lines of research in South-South cooperation.
The relevance of this research is as follows:
The term ‘Global South’ (Meneses & Karina, 2018), formerly used interchangeably with ‘Third World’ or ‘underdeveloped world’, has historically been shaped by the concept of ‘coloniality of being’ (Quijano, 2014). This notion posits that the identity and representation of Global South peoples have been defined by exogenous processes imposed by the Western world. These processes have manifested in modernisations and constructions of national identities that adhere to the parameters of the Global North, Western, and in many cases, Eurocentric.
This coloniality has also resulted in two significant consequences. Firstly, it has influenced the development and transmission of the customs and traditions of native peoples throughout the Global South. Secondly, an academic narrative was constructed that legitimised the dissociation between Latin America (Western, Europeanised), presenting ‘the Arab’ from a viewpoint that Eduard Said (1979) called ‘Orientalism’. This view, which was exported from the European academy to the United States, presented Arab peoples as backward, savage, but also charged with exoticism and charm.
With the advent of postcolonial, decolonial, and subaltern studies, a new narrative is being constructed from a southern perspective for southern audiences. In this context, studying the history of Uruguay alongside that of the Maghreb, Mashriq, and the Arabian Peninsula1 necessitates a recognition of the need to challenge the ‘cognitive injustice’ (De Sousa Santos, 2022) that has been inherited from the Eurocentric and Western conception predominant in the historiography of the European Global North and the United States.
In order to achieve cognitive justice, it is essential to highlight the historical and cultural connections between the Arab and Latin American peoples. In the nineteenth century, Latin American states witnessed a migratory and diasporic influx as a consequence of the Ottoman Sultanate in the Maghreb and Levant region. This continuous influx into our country occurred in the early decades of the 20th century, coinciding with the implementation of an open borders policy under the administration of José Batlle y Ordóñez.
Since 1948, migrants from Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine have arrived in the Río de la Plata in search of a new beginning. It is estimated that 300,000 immigrants arrived in Latin America (Balloffet, 2024)2 and became part of the migratory flood that shaped what is known as ‘the melting pot of the society of the «900»‘. Their arrival marked a change in the region’s demography and contributed to the enrichment of its cultural diversity.
Similarly, during the 1960s, the Global South was engaged in a process of anti-colonial struggle, which resulted in the decolonization of the region. In the Maghreb, Algeria and Egypt were the main countries involved in these processes. In the case of Algeria, it was a model of anti-colonial struggle. Concurrently, in Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser advanced the cause of Arab unity and pan-Arabism. This political and social situation in the Maghreb had a direct connection with Latin America.
The legacy of colonialism
The Global South, the Arab region, and Latin America all share a colonial heritage. The similarities between the Maghreb and Latin America extend beyond their shared colonial heritage. Both regions experienced processes of independence that resulted in the establishment of neo-colonial states. In the case of the Maghreb, the European powers divided the region after the independence of the Ottoman Sultanate. This division, known as the ‘Trusteeship System’, aimed to install a new form of colonialism. However, this system ended with the conclusion of the First World War.
During the period between 1920 and 1930, the United States established a neo-colonial system in the Caribbean, imposing economic dependence on the region and on Cuba. In addition, the US influenced the political sphere by installing a dictatorial government in Cuba. In 1952, he initiated a revolutionary process that would ultimately triumph in 1959, with Fidel Castro and Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara emerging as its most prominent figures.
The anti-colonial struggles resulted in the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and Algeria. The two anti-colonial movements shared numerous similarities, not only in their methodology but also in their ideological affinity. They both identified as ‘communist’ in the context of the Cold War.
In the context of the Third World movements, a period of diplomatic meetings between Arab and Latin American countries commenced. Despite the absence of concrete proposals, this led to an opening of dialogue, as evidenced by the OAS-League of Arab States summit in 1960, which sought to reinforce economic and political collaboration.
The situation of the Palestinian conflict also had an impact, increasing the number of external refugees in the Southern Cone, as evidenced by the case of Chile, which had the largest diaspora in Latin America.
The current state of affairs is characterized by the continued existence of a migratory nexus between the Latin American and Middle Eastern regions, a phenomenon that has been reinforced by the Arab uprisings of 2011. The influx of refugees from Syria and Yemen has increased markedly since 2018, as evidenced by the case of Ecuador. Concurrently, the resurgence of the European far-right has contributed to the rise of Islamophobia, which has also manifested in Latin America.
The following research lines have been identified
- The construction of narratives based on identity and memory in Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian refugee communities in Uruguay.
- This line of research examines the ways in which migrant communities in Uruguay maintain and transmit their identity, resistance, and sense of belonging. The objective is to examine the impact of narratives on the perception of one’s own history and the process of integration into Uruguayan society, including the ways in which this integration occurs in tension or in alignment with the cultural traditions of the countries of origin. Consequently, the role of collective memory in maintaining community identity can be examined, as reflected in artistic, cultural, and everyday life practices. In the case of the Palestinian community of Chuy, the role of women in reconstructing their lives, the adaptation of previous experiences to the new reality in Uruguay, and the contribution of these experiences to the construction and cultural diversity of the community they inhabit will be of particular interest.
- An examination of the connections between liberation movements and anti-colonialism in Latin America and the Maghreb.
- In light of the interconnectivity that existed between Algeria and Cuba during the 1960s, for instance, the line will examine the points of convergence between the various anti-colonial movements and their respective national projects. During the same period, it could also investigate how Latin American influences shaped the artistic, literary, and cinematic landscapes in Arab countries, analyzing the impact of these cultural identities.
- The representation of women as a symbol of the nation in Arab modernity, situated between tradition and modernity.
- From this line of enquiry, it is possible to analyze the symbolic and active role played by women in the construction of national identity and its various manifestations in the Maghreb and Mashriq region. A comparative study of Arab and Latin American modernity can be carried out, identifying unique characteristics and similarities between the two. This research would integrate various interdisciplinary perspectives, such as political science, history, and sociology, thereby enriching the understanding of social and cultural processes in these regions.