Scientific co-operation and centre-periphery relations: attitudes and interests of European and Latin American scientists

Abstract

This article approaches the issue of the so-called North-South scientific cooperation to understand why European research consortia incorporate research groups from Latin America (LA). This boils down to three questions: (a) at the political and institutional level, what is the European Union’s interest in developing co-operation with Latin America? (b) at the level of cognitive strategies, what are the European projects leaders’ motivations to enroll LA groups in the formation of research consortia? and (c) at the level of practices, what role do the LA groups play in these consortia? To underline the specificity of the cooperation under analysis, we take into account organizational and geo-political aspects as well as past and current trends in Europe-Latin America scientific co-operation in general, and in particular within the Framework Programs. We conceptualize several types of co-operation and the paradigms of North-South scientific collaboration that have guided the developed countries’ policies. As a result of our research, we suggest a typology of the different configurations that frame the LA participation in international consortia, and the consequences in terms of policy issues that may be relevant for Latin American countries in the future.