Doctoral Dissertation Research: Production and Political Use of Social Science during Extended Periods of Cold War Unrest and Instability

这项历史研究考察了阿根廷的心理科学是如何在以政治不稳定、意识形态两极分化和流血为特征的南半球冷战期间，成为争取忠诚的意识形态斗争中的关键武器的。拟议的研究包括档案研究和对阿根廷重要历史人物的采访。本文将研究两个核心问题：1966年至1983年，在冷战时期的阿根廷政治极端主义高潮期间，政治行为者是如何利用心理科学来推进意识形态目标的？在这一时期，心理学家和精神病学家是如何将政治价值观嵌入心理学理论和实践中的？本研究的重点是社会科学知识生产与动荡的政治之间的相互作用，这是赤道以下冷战的特征。冷战时期的社会科学研究绝大多数集中在美苏超级大国和平稳定下的社会科学研究。相比之下，这项研究为越来越多的文献做出了贡献，这些文献探讨了冷战期间全球南方的意识形态两极分化、基层行动主义和政治暴力如何影响社会科学的生产和政治应用。阿根廷在心理科学方面有着丰富的传统，为研究提供了一个有用的案例。更广泛的影响除了在心理学会议上展示和在美国的心理学期刊上发表外，联合pi还计划在布宜诺斯艾利斯的研讨会和会议上向心理学家展示他的研究成果，并在西班牙语心理学期刊上发表。他还计划将自己收集的冷战时期政治活跃的心理学家的口述历史捐赠给阿根廷的memoriia Abierta口述档案馆。这样做不仅可以让人们了解由于政治压迫而文献稀少的时期，而且还可以推进人权组织的目标，即保留对国家暴力的记忆，丰富民主文化，防止独裁主义在阿根廷回归。

Project OverviewThis historical study examines how the psychological sciences in Argentina became a crucial weapon in the ideological battle for loyalty during the Cold War in the global South, which is characterized by political instability, ideological polarization, and bloodshed. The proposed study includes both archival research and interviews with key historical actors in Argentina. There are two core questions that will be investigated: How did political actors use the psychological sciences to advance ideological goals during the height of Cold War political extremism in Argentina, from 1966 to 1983? How did psychologists and psychiatrists embed political values into psychological theory and practice during this period?Intellectual Merit This study focuses on the interaction between social-scientific knowledge production and the volatile politics that characterized the Cold War below the equator. The vast majority of Cold War studies of social science focus on social science under the peace and stability of the US and Soviet superpowers. By contrast, this study contribute to the growing body of literature that examines how ideological polarization, grassroots activism, and political violence in the global south affected the production and political use of social science during the Cold War. Argentina provides a useful case for study because of its rich tradition in the psychological sciences. Broader ImpactsThe Co-PI plans to present his research findings to psychologists at seminars and conferences in Buenos Aires and to publish in a Spanish-language psychology journal, in addition to presenting them at psychology conferences and publishing them in psychology journals in the US. The Co-PI also plans to donate his collected oral histories of psychologists who were politically active during the Cold War to the Memoria Abierta Oral Archive in Argentina. Doing so will not only shed light on a period for which documentation is sparse due to political repression, but also to advance the human rights organization's goals of preserving memory of state violence, enriching democratic culture, and preventing the return of authoritarianism in Argentina.