A view from the Global South: Ideas as an act of sovereignty

An Interview with Ricardo Aronskind

Abstract

Ricardo Aronskind holds a Degree in Economics from the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO). He is currently a consultant professor at the Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento (UNGS), where he directs the International Studies Programme (PEI). He is also the author of several books on Argentine economic policies, economic thought, and development, as well as numerous research articles and essays published in various social science journals.

In this interview, Aronskind reflects on the current relevance of Latin American economic thought, particularly Structuralism and Dependency Theory. From a critical perspective, he analyzes the asymmetries between the Center and the Periphery and the loss of intellectual density among regional elites, which limits the capacity to build autonomous national projects. Likewise, he asserts the importance of ideas as a necessary condition for driving structural transformations and rethinking the region’s economic, political, and cultural sovereignty. He also invites us to recover the Latin American intellectual legacy as a means to reconstruct a situated perspective, one capable of understanding and confronting the region’s contemporary challenges.