Abstract

JIMENEZ-CASTILLO, Manuel A.. The dilemma of cooperation for development the alternative of a critical epistemology. Ideas y Valores [online]. 2018, vol.67, n.167, pp.223-240. ISSN 0120-0062.  https://doi.org/10.15446/ideasyvalores.v67n167.60232.

The International Cooperation for Development system is epistemologically and operationally disconnected from the complexity that characterizes its field of action. Its academic tradition has been historically determined by two antithetical reactions. One is to restrict reality to a universalist principle that interprets development in an a priori manner. The other, contrary to the former's speculative nature, conforms to an extreme empiricism that renders it incapable of formulating a theory about what really works. In both cases, the fetishism of aid ends up being the price paid for the inability to reconcile the two positions. The article demonstrates how an epistemic alternative, capable of combining the positive aspects of both positions, would minimize the negative impact of cooperation and foster an effective and sustainable framework for action.

Keywords : cooperation; development; empiricism; universalism.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )