Ideational contexts and activist networks in institutional diffusion processes

the case of the 1918 university reform

Abstract

Studies on policy diffusion have become more attractive and relevant as a way of understanding innovations and changes in public policy. Under this concept, we explore one of the most striking cases of institutional diffusion in Latin America: the process of transformation of Latin American universities linked to the reform movement that shook the University of Córdoba, in Argentina, during 1918. The principles of this reform inspired important institutional changes and continue to be central on the discussions about tertiary education in the region. Most of its precepts (political autonomy, student co-government, extension and social commitment) live today and are defended as fundamental pillars of the Latin American university. Thus, the main question that this article asks is: what is the contribution that the expansion of the university reform movement can make to diffusion theory? Our answer is that studying the diffusion of the Cordoba Reform allows to more deeply understand two very important dimensions in the circulation of ideas. First, the evidence allows us to delve into the role of the domestic context. The context is usually pointed out as a restriction on the diffusion process (it explains the distance between the original and the copy). However, in this case the ideational context favored the adoption of the reform. Second, historical reconstruction helps to understand more fully the role of entrepreneurs, in general, and that of a specific type of actors: activist networks, in this case, the student movement.