I STRATEGIC PHILANTHROPY: the FORD and ROCKEFELLER
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i STRATEGIC PHILANTHROPY: THE FORD AND ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATIONS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE ORIGINS OF AMERICAN GLOBAL REFORM ______________________ A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _____________________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _____________________ By Stephanie M. Kelly December, 2013 ii STRATEGIC PHILANTHROPY:THE FORD AND ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATIONS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE ORIGINS OF AMERICAN GLOBAL REFORM ____________________________________ Stephanie M. Kelly APPROVED: ___________________________________ Thomas F. O'Brien, Ph.D. Committee Chair __________________________________ John Mason Hart, Ph.D. __________________________________ Natalia Milanesio, Ph.D. _________________________________ Lois Parkinson Zamora, Ph.D Departments of English, History, and Art _____________________________________ John Roberts, Ph.D. Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences iii STRATEGIC PHILANTHROPY: THE FORD AND ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATIONS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE ORIGINS OF AMERICAN GLOBAL REFORM ______________________ An Abstract of a Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _____________________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _____________________ By Stephanie M. Kelly December, 2013 iv Abstract This dissertation examines the role of two of the most influential private U.S. foundations operating in Latin America during the post- World War II years, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation. The activities of these two foundations in Latin America are situated within a much broader global reform agenda promoted by the United States government that sought to modernize underdeveloped countries and integrate these economies into a global capitalist economic system led by the United States. Latin America would be the first regional testing ground for this agenda and, it was hoped, a model for reform in other regions of the world. The study focuses on the period between 1950 and 1975, when ideas about social and economic development drew upon a vast array of new social science literature and research that suggested the United Sates could direct the process of development in countries around the globe and prevent the instability inherent in the modernization process. It also examines the role of the foundations as private partners in this global mission and highlights the close collaborative efforts between the United States government and private actors in pursuit of foreign policy goals. The core of the analysis centers around foundation projects in university reform, building the social sciences, modernizing agriculture and controlling population growth and looks at the interplay between foundation officials and the Latin American elites with whom they collaborated. The outcomes of reform projects promoted by the foundations in Latin America were often determined by this interplay. Finally, the dissertation examines the long term significance of these projects initiated in the post war years in light of accelerating globalization and continued global instability. v Acknowledgments This should be the easiest part of the dissertation to write, but as it turns out it is much harder than I imagined because I cannot possibly thank all the people who have contributed to the final product, either intellectually or in other no less important ways. First, I would like to thank the University of Houston Department of History for all the financial assistance provided through fellowships, research grants and teaching and research assistantships. The Rockefeller Archive Center in New York also provided financial assistance for my research and offered me invaluable access to their wonderful holdings. I will remember my trips there with fondness. Nancy Adgent's dedication to helping scholars goes above and beyond the call of duty, and she offered her continued support for years. The archivists and staff at the RAC are the most professional and helpful people I have encountered, and it was a joy to conduct research at this facility. Likewise, in my two visits to the Ford Foundation archives before they moved to the RAC, the archivist and staff there offered invaluable suggestions for the direction of my research. While financial assistance was essential, this dissertation reflects the people who helped me along the way more so than the money. I want to thank Tom and Diane O'Brien from the bottom of my heart. Tom inspired me as an undergraduate to look passionately at history as a window to the present. He is an intellectual like no other with the kindest of souls. Diane has been there from the beginning, offering me the encouragement and intellectual praise that kept me going. I never entertained giving up on the dissertation, mostly because I would have felt like I let these two wonderful individuals down. Sue Kellogg has gone from my professor to my friend over the course of my graduate education, and I owe so many thanks to her for being such a wonderful inspiration (the kind of academic and teacher I could only hope to be) and for being there for me through all my trials and tribulations. John Hart, Lois Zamora and Natalia Milanesio offered their time in reading and commenting on my work. Their valuable input pushed me to consider possibilities that I had not envisioned. There are other individuals too who vi offered support along the way including Bill Walker and Fernando Cepeda Aulloa. These individuals gave their time to me for no other reason than to help a graduate student develop a better dissertation. I especially appreciate the assistance Prof. Cepeda gave and the wonderful conversations we had via e- mail. There were also people beyond the world of academia that provided essential practical, spiritual and emotional support. My friends Sarah and Troy Stevens, Trina Barker and Colleen Whiteside not only kept my spirits high but watch my kids while I was working so many times I can't even count. Robyn Neveu and Stephanie Baxter supported me through thick and thin and encouraged me all along. They are all true friends, and I could not have completed this without them. My colleagues at Lone Star College-Kingwood are the best co-workers a person could ask for, and they are beyond a doubt the most impressive group of intellectuals ever assembled in one place. I have to recognize a few that have been simply amazing including Cora Ann Williams, Steve Davis, Jay Theis, Thilo Shimmel, Peggy Lambert, John Barr, Isabel Torres, Raul Reyes, Marie Sesay, Susan Cotten, Sherry Young, Dalia Kahlaf, Brenda Stubbs, Cindy Baker, Mitzi Payne, and Judith Watson. I now know what it is like to love a job so much you don't mind being there 24/7. Finally, I arrive at the people who sacrificed the most for me to finish my PhD: my family. My brothers and their families rearranged so many holidays to accommodate my schedule that I can't imagine what the holidays will be like not having to ask them to do this. I guess I will find out this year! My parents, Tony and Olivia Howlett, have been so supportive I can't really put down into words my love for them. It was their amazing parenting that enabled me to even get to graduate school, but it was their understanding, their financial help and their emotional support for all that I went through during these past six years that made this happen. I have been truly blessed with the most amazing family and the best role models for parenting that ever existed. My mom, Olivia, is one of those rare individuals that inspire and command respect. She lives life to the fullest and has managed to be one of those incredible individuals who always puts her family first but somehow also has such a full vii life painting, sailing, exploring and smelling the roses. Finally, I dedicate this dissertation to Colin and Clare Kelly. These two amazing individuals have lived most of their lives with mom in school. It has not always been easy for them, and they have sacrificed lots of things for me to finish. I only hope as they grow into the wonderful adults I know they will become they will come to eventually understand what this was all about. In the meantime, I aim to start paying them back for all the times I couldn't do something because I had to write. At fourteen and twelve, they are both already so accomplished, and sometimes I wonder how they got to be so smart and talented. I am quite sure they will accomplish far more by the time they are twenty than all I have accomplished to date. I love you both more than words can ever express. Houston, 2013 viii Contents Chapter One "A New and Noble Adventure": Strategic Philanthropy and Global Reform p. 1 Chapter Two From Progressivism to Modernization: Foundations and Social Engineering p. 28 Chapter Three: Institution Building and Technocratic Change: University Reform in Latin America p. 75 Chapter Four: Scientific Nation Building: Engineering Reform through the Social Sciences p. 141 Chapter Five: Opening Pandora's Box: Foundations and Agricultural Reform in Latin America p. 187 Chapter Six: Modernizing the Family: Foundations and Population Control in Latin America p. 240 Chapter Seven: Conclusion p. 292 Bibliography p. 310 1 Introduction/Chapter One "A New and Noble Adventure:" Strategic Philanthropy and Global Reform1 Driving through Chile's central valley of Limari at end of the 20th century one could attest to the transformative nature of globalization. Gone are