The Córdoba Reform of 1918: state of knowledge based on scientific articles (1978-2018)

Abstract

In the context of the centenary of the Córdoba Reform, this study investigated how the scientific production on the university reform is configured and presents a balance of the researches that analyzed from the meaning of this movement happened in Argentina in 1918, until its and impacts and projection in the context of universities in Latin America and the Caribbean. The exploratory and descriptive study analized scientific articles (n=90) available in databases of open access published in scientific journals (n=47) from different countries (n=13) in the period between 1978 and 2018. The methodology combined the bibliometric and content analysis and the methodological procedures were developed in the following steps: data collection and recording in a spreadsheet; reading the full texts of articles; establishment of categories of analysis; description, synthesis and analysis of the data. The articles were categorized into two groups: those that addressed the historical social and political context of the Reformation, the principles of the Liminar Manifesto and their impact on Argentine universities (n=51), and those that focused on the legacy of reformist thinking as a moment of rupture and continuity in the history of Latin American universities (n=39). Next, thematic subcategories were established and the most frequent ones were university autonomy and extension, intellectuals, students and student movement. Few studies have questioned issues such as gender, political theology in the reformist movement and opposition to University Reform.