A Critical Analysis of the Reception of Darwinism in Latin America in the 19th Century: Towards a “Complex” Vision (original) (raw)

Handbook of the historiography of Latin American studies on the life sciences and medicine, 2021

Abstract

Since the 1970s, there has been an interest in the “introduction” and “reception” of scientific ideas comparatively. Thomas Glick’s work has been the primary reference, through the cases of Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin’s ideas in different geographical contexts. The comparative method has been extensively taken up to explain the influence of Charles Darwin’s ideas in the Latin American context, with emphasis on a diffusionist view. This perspective, based on the logic of the “Darwinian revolution,” has made it possible to deepen how life sciences were developed in Latin American countries. The countries that have received the most attention are Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, and work has been done in a good part of the region. The aim of this work is, based on a search of works on the introduction and reception of Darwinism in Latin America, to make a classification in which writings can be located according to different contemporary historiographic proposals. The point is to show how, despite starting from a common logic such as the reception of Darwin’s ideas, the different works start – or at least it seems so – from proposals beyond diffusionism. This last point also serves to reflect on the implications for the history of Latin American science, since to focus in understanding a single set of scientific ideas has resulted in the historiographic oblivion of other proposals. Another point to emphasize is the need for social and cultural history in understanding the development of science.

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