Disputing Global Knowledge From The South: Institutionalization of Communication, Mutual Support Networks, and The Institutional Contribution of ABOIC

Abstract

This article provides a structural and historical analysis of the institutionalization of communication research in Latin America, examining the emergence and consolidation of continental and national scientific associations as fundamental networks of cooperation and intellectual resistance. Through a critical-epistemological review, it recovers the legacy of Luis Ramiro Beltrán, Antonio Pasquali, Armand Mattelart, and José Marques de Melo, who constructed a theoretical matrix oriented toward democratic, participatory, and ethical communication. Furthermore, the text articulates contemporary conceptual advances to examine how foundational principles are reactivated within today's networked environments and digital mediations, without abandoning the axis of cognitive and social sovereignty. From a situated perspective, it reflects on the trajectory of the Bolivian Association of Communication Researchers (ABOIC), its refounding in 1999, its dialogic practices, and its active participation in the Latin American Seminar on Communication and Academic and Scientific Cooperation (2025).