The academic life of Jesus M. de Miguel He attended some of the most prestigious universities on the planet. Yale, Berkeley, Harvard, Stanford, Cambridge… These are just a few, but he has lectured at dozens of academic institutions around the world. However, his career has not been without controversy.
De Miguel is the author of the article published this weekend on the web Public agenda, in which he accuses the British weekly The economist for using “hoaxes” and “disinformation” typical of the “far right” to attack the president Pedro Sanchez.
Public Agenda, a media outlet run by Marc Lopezwho was deputy of the CPS and chief of staff of the Pascal Maragall to the presidency of the Generalitat, presents the sociologist equivocally as “the first prince of Asturias professor in the United States”.
In fact, Jesús de Miguel was the first director of the Prince of Asturias Chair of Spanish Studies at Georgetown University (Washington). The chair was created in 1999 thanks to an agreement between this university and the Spanish government, which is responsible for financing it, in addition to convening and awarding the position.
The sociologist spent a good part of his life in the United States and is now back in Madrid after a four-year stay in Paris. On his return, he met those responsible for Public agendafocused on public policy analysis and began writing articles for them on quality of Spanish democracy.
He is a sociologist and expert on the subject. He collaborates on Varieties of Democracy, an in-depth study on the state of democracies carried out by the Swedish institute V-Dem. So when last week he read an article in The economist entitled “Pedro Sánchez clings to his position to the detriment of democracy in Spain”, decided to respond with another text in Public agenda.
“There is no doubt about the prestige of The economistbut with Spain it is not good. This article does not inform, but rather take the position to the right, seems written by Feijóo, and responds to a strategy of disinformation. They cannot treat us like an undemocratic country, when all the indicators —starting with yours— They emphasize the opposite,” says Jesús de Miguel on the phone.
The position of The economist The government did not like it at all and this weekend sent the response from Jesús de Miguel to ministers and opinion makers, with whom he usually shares his arguments.
Always keen to strengthen the international role of the president, Moncloa attempts to counteract the negative image conveyed by one of the most prestigious publications at European level.
Political Advisor
To do this, they turn to a sociologist with extensive experience. Jesús de Miguel is 76 years old and is the brother of Love Miguelone of the most prestigious sociologists of recent decades in Spain – especially during the Transition -, who has changed his thinking in recent years and become one of the intellectual references of the founders of Vox.
“Even I don’t know what happened at the end of his life. We both came from a liberal and progressive tradition even socialist, but he has initiated this absurd turn and adopted almost phalangist positions. You can’t evaluate a person just by the last thing they did, but it’s a family mystery,” says Jesús.
However, he remains faithful to this “progressive tradition” of which he speaks. He was born in San Sebastián, holds a doctorate in political science from the Complutense University of Madrid and began working in public administration in the 1970s.
He was part of a committee of experts serving the Provincial Delegation and the Barcelona City Hall. And later he was an advisor to Ernest Lluchwho was Minister of Health between 1982 and 1986, then assassinated by ETA.
“I have worked with politicians from different sides, not only with those of the PSOE,” he warns. As is also the case for the CIS. “I participate in their studies and write in some of their publications, but not only now with Tezanosbut also when the People’s Party governed.”
In the CIS library, there are a dozen publications bearing his name, on a wide variety of subjects. From a manual for writing autobiographies to an essay on the pharmaceutical profession. “I have done a lot of things in education, but in the United States I did my doctorate on medical sociology and since then I have been closely linked to this field,” he says.
He even advised the World Health Organization (WHO) or to European institutions specializing in scientific research. His more than 50 books cover all kinds of subjects. Without going any further, the last: a treatise on documentary and photography.
Complaints to the University
Despite this, his career developed mainly at University. Not only in Anglo-Saxon centers of thought, but also as a collaborator in academic centers in Australia, Japan, Taiwan or Copenhagen. In Spain, he was professor of sociology at the University of Barcelonawhere the darkest episodes in the evolution of his profession occurred.
There, ten years ago, a dozen students denounced him for allegedly suffering sexual abuse. The newspaper The country He then collected testimonies from boys and girls who claimed to have been victims of touching and sexual harassment. In addition to physical contact, also by email.
The events dated back to the 2007/08 academic year. The University referred the complaints to the prosecutor’s office, which spoke of “harmful” behaviorsbut filed the case because the crimes had prescribed.
Years later, the Mexican weekly Process published other information containing similar complaints from students, while De Miguel was teaching a master’s degree in public administration at Anáhuac University in Xalapa (Mexico). There was no conviction here either.
“It’s a subject that I don’t want to talk“I have not been convicted of anything and it has nothing to do with my academic activity,” replies the sociologist. However, regarding what happened in Barcelona, he suggests that “maybe part of the problem is difficulty being Spanish and live in Catalonia in the middle of the independence process.
The complaints, however, date from 2014. Jesús de Miguel insists on separating this issue from his intellectual career through which he reappears today in the public sphere.
