Resumen

MERCADO, Alexis. La estructura productiva de América Latina: convergencia hacia la sociedad del conocimiento. Revista Venezolana de Economía y Ciencias Sociales [online]. 2005, vol.11, n.1, pp.209-242. ISSN 20030507.

To a great extent, the discourse over the knowledge society assumes that it is simply at the service of production and consumption and this simplified version of reality is radically modifying the behavior and organization of the structures that generate knowledge, with an evident impact on the economy and production in the developed countries of the North. These economies effectively produce added value based on the incorporation of knowledge but the natural re-sources they consume come largely from the South. As the latter contribute basically natural resources to the world economy, then the incorporation of knowledge does not have the same implications as in the North, so that the universal applicability of the "productive paradigm in the knowledge society" is questionable. Nevertheless, Latin America is adopting the new forms of generating knowledge defined in the North, redefining the relationship between higher education and society, privileging links to the productive process, without taking these differences into account. At the same time, there is a lamentable failure to strengthen key sectors such as the basic sciences and engineering, with serious implications for the potential promotion of growth and well-being.

Palabras clave : Knowledge society; Higher Education; Latin America.