Center for the Study of State and Society was established on July 1, 1975 when Argentina was undergoing a particularly serious institutional crisis. This situation also affected several of the most important academic and higher education institutions. A group of professionals working in the social sciences created the Center for the purpose of constituting an independent and pluralistic space that could protect and provide continuity to ongoing research work and the production of knowledge. The Institution was formed as a civil association that was autonomous of the State, of political parties, or of any entity or social organization in particular. This autonomy has always been one of the key features of the work at the Center.

From the beginning, CEDES has focused on the study of social, political, and economic issues in Argentina and Latin America. Within an hostile political and institutional framework to endorse research in the social sciences, CEDES’s activities were largely made possible thanks to significant support from a number of international institutions, such as Sarec (Sweden), Ford Foundation, IDRC (Canada), Andrew Mellon Foundation, Inter-American Foundation, among others.

Owing to its international ties and the strong presence of regional problematics in the research at CEDES, the participation of academic networks with distinct institutions in Latin America and the United States, together with other countries like Canada, South Africa, and India, has played and still plays an important role. CEDES often works with these networks on joint projects or in coordinating research activities.

The research and academic activities that CEDES’s members conduct have been and are guided by constant attention to quality and scientific accuracy as well as a permanent concern for political democracy and pluralism, economic growth, social equality, and cultural diversity.

The concern for quality and scientific accuracy is reflected in the basic standards for the promotion of researchers. CEDES has four categories of researchers (Assistant, Adjunct, Associate, and Senior, as well as Visiting). The promotions are decided by the Assembly of Researchers (comprised of Senior and Associate Researchers), and the evaluation criteria follow similar guidelines to those employed by, for example, the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET).

 It is worth mentioning that CEDES has been granted the Qualification Certificate from the National Agency for Scientific and Technical Promotion that accredits the Center for “having rendered scientific-technological research programs that either implement directly or support through promoting activities with the necessary qualities and originality requirements”  according to the Resolution ANPCyT Nº 54/08.

During 2007, CEDES has obtained two important institutional recognitions:
- As NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
- As Associated Center of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET). Resolution N. 2486

Founding members of CEDES
Gustavo Humberto Cavarozzi
Marcelo Cavarozzi
María Teresa Emery de O'Donnell
Norma Martha Fischberg de Oszlak
Alejandro Mario O'Donnell
Guillermo O'Donnell
Oscar Oszlak
Beatriz Elba Schmukler
Teresa de Segal

Researchers and Former Researchers of CEDES:
> Acosta, Luis
> Acuña, Carlos H.
> Adaszko, Ariel
> Aizenberg, Lila
> Albrieu, Ramiro
> Alonso, Valeria
> Apella, Ignacio
> Archetti, Eduardo
> Arias Feijoó, Jimena
> Balán, Jorge
> Barbé, Carlos
> Barbieri, Eugenia
> Bekerman, Marta
> Boneo, Horacio
> Bonvecchi, Carlos E.
> Buchanan, Paul
> Bumbak, Sonia
> Camerlo, Marcelo
> Campos, Martín
> Cangiano, María Cecilia
> Canitrot, Adolfo
> Cavarozzi, Marcelo
> Cicerchia, Ricardo
> Corso, Eduardo
> Crespo, Marina
> Chisari, Omar
> Damill, Mario
> De la Fuente, Ariel
> De Riz, Liliana
> Del Río Fortuna, Cynthia
> Díaz, Adrian
> Durand, Teresa
> Fanelli, José María
> Feijoó, María del Carmen
> Feldman, Jorge
> Feldman, Silvio
> Fernández, Silvia B.
> Firme, Ramón
> Fischberg, Martha
> Fitzpatrick, Agustina
> Flichman, Guillermo
> Fontana, Andrés
> Foti, M. del Pilar
> Frenkel, Roberto
> Garay, Candelaria
> García de Fanelli, Ana
> García, Gisela
> Geandet, Ariel
> Gerchunoff, Pablo
> Gianni, Cecilia
> Gogna, Mónica
> Golbert, Laura
> González Bombal, Inés
> González Rozada, Martín
> Gorsky, Silvina
> Gracas Grossi, María
> Grassi, Estela
> Grimberg, Lev Luis
> Gutierréz, Leandro
> Gutierréz, María Alicia
> Hartlyn, Johnatan
> Hernández, Juan Facundo
> Hirschman, Sarah
> Hongru, Cui
> Ibarlucía, Inés
> Ippolito-O'Donnell, Gabriela
> Jelin, Elizabeth
> Junco, Silvia
> Kampel, Daniel
> Katz, Sebastián
> Keifman, Saúl
> Kendall, Carl
> Kettmann, Irene
> Khavisse, Miguel
> Korzeniewicz, Miguel
> Kweitel, Mercedes
> Landi, Oscar
> Langer, Erick
> Lawton, Judy
> Lewinsky, Liliana
> Lin, Cao
> Lischinsky, Sergio
> Llamazares, Ivan
> Llovet, Ignacio
> Llovet, Juan José
> Maceira, Daniel
> Maciel, Antonio
> Machinea , José Luis
> Makin, Guillermo
> Mariño, Andrea
> Martel, Marc
> Martínez, Tomás Eloy
> Maurizio, Roxana
> Maxfield, Sylvia
> Mercer, Raúl
> Midre, George
> Milutin, Lila Felicitas
> Miller, Cynthia
> Moyano, María José
> Mugarza, Susana
> Newman, Kathleen
> O´Donnell, Guillermo
> Ollestad, Ann
> Ollier, María Matilde
> Ortiz, Zulma
> Ostiguy, Pierre
> Oszlak, Oscar
> Palermo, Vicente
> Petracci, Mónica
> Pion-Berlin, David
> Poma, Verónica
> Ponce, Gustavo
> Portnoy, Fabián
> Pradelli, Juan José
> Quevedo, Alberto
> Ramos Margarido, Silvina
> Ramos, Silvina
> Rapetti, Martín
> Riner, Déborah
> Roitter, Mario
> Romero, Mariana
> Roxborough, Ian
> Rozenwurcel, Guillermo
> Rubinich, Lucas
> Ruibal, Beatriz
> Saltalamacchia, Homero R.
> Salvatore, Nicolás
> Schmuckler, Beatriz
> Schugurensky, Daniel
> Schwarztein, Dora
> Serafinoff, Valeria
> Serulnikov, Sergio
> Shammah, Cinthia
> Sigal, Silvia
> Sikkink, Kathryn
> Simpson, Lucio
> Smith, William
> Smulovitz, Catalina
> Soich, Tamara
> Sourrouille, Juan
> Stallen, Kristi Anne
> Stanley, Leonardo
> Starr, Pamela
> Sujoy, Jaime A.
> Szapiro, Susana B.
> Szulik, Dalia
> Tandeter, Enrique
> Thompson, Andrés
> Torres, Liliana
> Trombetta, Augusto
> Tulchin, Joseph S.
> Urani, André
> Vacchieri, Ariana
> Vacs, Aldo
> Viladrich, Anahí
> Villalba, M. Fernanda
> Weller, Silvana
> Winograd, Carlos
> Wolff, Jennifer
> Yankellevich, Pablo
> Zalduondo, Bárbara
> Zamberlin, Nina
> Zulawski, Ann