Alberdi's educational proposal to modernize the Argentine economy (1850-1860)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55560/arete.2026.24.12.17Keywords:
Juan Bautista Alberdi, Useful Instruction, Education of Things, Economic determinismAbstract
This essay is an analysis of Juan Bautista Alberdi’s economic and educational ideas during his period of intellectual maturity (1850–1860). A qualitative paradigm was used, with a historical-hermeneutic design. This was a period in 19th-century Argentina marked by political tensions surrounding the establishment of a modern market economy, which was based on the absence of a universal public education system. The literature review revealed a distinction between the concepts of “Education” and “Instruction.” Furthermore, the author understood a form of economic determinism in which formal schooling did not meet the most pressing needs of production and capital generation. This tension was resolved through what Alberdi termed “Education of Things,” in which factors such as the immigration of capable and prepared individuals would provide, within the realms of industry and the workshop, the true education required by the republican citizen. Furthermore, Alberdi expressed concern about government-run schools and therefore placed his full trust in free-market forces as the educators of society.
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