Development, planning, and public policies

Abstract

These class notes aim to highlight central concepts in understanding the contents of the Planning II Department for students pursuing a degree and teaching in Sociology. Their reading introduces the required readings but does not replace them. Thinking about Planning in peripheral countries in the 21st century requires a broad perspective on social totality and the historical processes in which planning takes place. This writing encourages questioning the role of the State in development processes and in the formulation of Public Policies, at a time when the international institutional architecture proposes (recipes) that are often transferred as is to national and regional realities. These notes invite reflection on the theoretical categories we use: State, Development, Models, Planning, to improve the way we socially intervene, based on the tools acquired as sociologists and planners. The aim is to contribute to the training of Sociology professionals committed to the most disadvantaged classes in our societies in our time, an essential task for graduates of the Argentine Public University.