The American Adventure of Spanish Political Science: Notes on the Intellectual History of the Cosmopolitan Hispanism of Juan J. Linz

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to advance towards the recognition of a fact that may serve to approach an issue that, albeit hardly touched upon, is relevant for the field of transatlantic studies. The fact is that, apart from few exceptions related to prominent figures in Spanish political thought, the intellectual history of scientific disciplines has been not pursued. This is specially the case for Political Science. There is a stark contrast with the United States, where the intellectual history of authors, schools of thought and disciplines exhibits a very strong tradition. My concern here is how the displacement and presence, or, in a word, the American adventure of some Spanish scholars led them to discover American Political Science, a discovery that was passed on disciples, visitors, and readers of their publications. As a result, the whole discipline back in Spain was modernized. Although such a story has different characters, I will focus here on Juan J. Linz, one of the pioneers in that adventure and the most international of Spanish scholars up to his death. His is a trajectory that with the passing of time ceased to be an adventure and became an ordinary experience for today’s scholars.