The Historian’s Craft in the “Periphery”: A Critical Overview of the Historiography of Life Sciences in Latin America

The chapter explores three kinds of historiographic dichotomies that have deeply affected the historiography of biology and biomedicine in Latin America. The dichotomies are the following: center versus periphery; reception versus appro- priation of knowledge; and “epistemic appropriation” versus emancipation through knowledge. The chapter introduces a few reasons showing why the first dichotomy is still pertinent and (alas) far from being compellingly super- seded, although it needs important conceptual revisions and updating. Then, in considering and assessing some very significant works on the history of biology, biomedicine, and agriculture focused on South America, it is shown how, and to what extent, the two other dichotomies have informed the historian’s craft in Latin America.