ABSTRACT
The intimate architecture of any academic story is always a personal one. While Uruguayan academic Marxism has been decimated, York University has been an epistemological and theoretical refuge where Paulo Ravecca learned that another type of political science (PS) is possible and that critical theory is alive. In the USA some canonic PS authors such as Almond and Verba praised the American democracy as the most civic and humane in the world, actively ignoring the horrors of racial segregation at home and imperialism abroad. PS is a human activity done by people. PS does not critique liberal democracy in Uruguay, but the intolerance against critical views has also weakened. After the transition to democracy, the mainstream media framed problems in terms used by the right wing and the TV channels became another antagonist for Paulo Ravecca. The dictatorship radically affected most of the scholars he interviewed in his research. It also shaped the texture of his family life.
