The Autonomy School as a Latin American Contribution to the Regional Integration Field of Studies: theoretical foundations, concepts and categories

Abstract

This article deals with the tradition around the idea of autonomy in Latin America, installed since the 19th century, which developed in an articulated manner with theories of development and with the theoretical proposals and empirical experiences of integration and cooperation generated in the region. The analysis addresses the Eurocentrism that characterizes the production of knowledge in the field of integration and regionalism studies and highlights the long trajectory of a Latin American integrationist thought, with emphasis on the autonomism of Hélio Jaguaribe and Juan Carlos Puig, in the second half of the 20th century. The adopted methodology was focused on desk research of locally produced literature. The text argues, in accordance with the research agenda proposed by Jaime Preciado, that the continued analytical validity of the autonomist assumptions is related to the need to update these theories based on the recent contributions of Latin American critical Social Sciences, in order to overcome the state-centrism traditionally present in the analyses of integration and regionalism.