Editoras universitárias e o ensino superior na América Latina: a importância do trabalho em associações

Abstract

This research theme is the Latin American university publishing, highlighting the work of the Association of Publishers University of Latin America and the Caribbean – EULAC – established in 1987 to promote the publication, distribution and wide circulation of material produced in higher education institutions.The present research analyzes the actions of EULAC and its associates in order to better understand the scenario of editorial production in Latin American countries, experiences of success and the main challenges that are presented. General objective is to present EULAC’s activities related to cultural and scientific production. Specific objectives are: describe editorial work in the universities and their development in Latin America; Highlight main historical factors related to higher education in the region; Report on the process of creating and expanding EULAC; Show numerical data of EULAC and its associates. The descriptive research was based on the field theory of Pierre Bourdieu, who considers the field to be a social place in which there is an interaction of actors with distinct means, different types and quantity of power and resources. In this way, university publishing associations exist within a field, a structured space of power and resources with their own forms of abilities and rewards. The analysis of the data reveals the importance of EULAC in the development and growth of university publishers and in the formation of academic publishers associations in the region, especially since the nineties, when a movement of postgraduate expansion began in the region. The association's work policy has born in mind integration of the publishing houses in the region, forming a structure of mutual collaboration, coping with common problems and establishing new partnerships.