Background | Organization | Funders | Networks | Interinstitutional Agreements |
30th anniversary

The Center for the Study of State and Society (CEDES) was established on July 1, 1975 when Argentina was experiencing 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 decided to create 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 conducted at the Center.

Its founding members include 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 and Teresa de Segal.

From the beginning, CEDES has focused on the study of social, political, and economic issues in Argentina and Latin America. Within a hostile political and institutional framework, adverse to 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.

Its mission is to foster research capability in the social sciences in Argentina and Latin America and to disseminate and apply these findings. To that end, CEDES seeks to contribute to social and economic development, the strengthening of democracy, the promotion of human rights, as well as social and gender equity.
The research and academic activities that CEDES’s members conduct have been guided by constant attention to quality and scientific accuracy. 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” (Resolution ANPCyT N. 281/09).

Owing to its international ties and the strong presence of regional problematics in the research at CEDES, the participation in 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.

Diverse research activities have been organized throughout the history of the institution, many of which continue to conduct their academic activities. CEDES is currently organized in the following departments: Economics; Higher Education; Politics and Public Management; Social Policies; Healthcare, Economics and Societyand Civil Society, Culture and Development. Each of the departments carries out research activities, training/dissemination, consultancy and technical assistance.

In addition, since 2002 the Center counts with the Program for Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation .

In 2007 CEDES was awarded two important institutional distinctions:
- As NGO with Special Consultative Status of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC).
- As Associated Center of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET). Resolution N. 2486

According of the analysis on Think Tanks by the University of Pennsylvania in 2011, CEDES ranks second in Argentina and eighth in Latin America. The study was conducted by Dr. James G. McGann, director of the university’s Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program and is based on feedback from around the world. A panel of international experts selected and processed nominees from over 5,300 research centers in 182 countries. Their opinions and views considered a wide range of criteria, such as the quality of the academic and scientific production, the prestige of the institution, its size, the background of its members, its ability to retain elite scholars, the impact of its output on public policies, as well as the magnitude of its contacts and networks with other institutions. 

Report available at:
http://www.gotothinktank.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/2011_Global_Go_To_Think_Tanks_Report_-_January_20_Edition_WITH_LETTEr-1.pdf