Becoming economic experts: philanthropic foundations and the internationalization of economics in Colombia during the 1960s

This chapter studies how the internationalization of economics during the 1960s shaped the economics profession in Colombia and its relationship with academe and the state. To do this, it examines the role philanthropic foundations, particularly the Rockefeller and the Ford Foundations, played as sponsors of economic education and research at the Universidad Nacional, the Universidad de Los Andes, and the Universidad del Valle. It also situates the internationalization of economics in Colombia in relation to contemporary experiences in other Latin American countries, like Chile and Brazil. Based on archival research, this chapter shows that the intervention of philanthropic foundations in universities yielded an unexpected outcome: the economics profession strengthened its position in key state institutions at the expense of building solid academic communities