Crisis, Challenges and Possibilities for Social Theory from a Latin American Perspective (Part 1)

Tuesday, 8 July 2025: 13:00-14:45
Location: FSE018 (Faculty of Education Sciences (FSE))
RC35 Conceptual and Terminological Analysis (host committee)

Language: English

Crisis, challenges and possibilities for social theory from a Latin American perspective

About 30 years ago, intensive theoretical debates took place in the social sciences in general, and in sociology in particular, which this panel would like to look at from a Latin American perspective.

These debates in Latin America were not driven by the desire to overcome European theories, the objective was not to define a kind of “Southern theory”, but to come to terms with concrete political, social and academic issues: 1. The need for a theoretical reorientation especially on the part of the left after the end of “real-existing socialism”. 2. The need for theoretical tools compatible with concrete political and social challenges, especially that of democratization. 3. The economic transformations from an industrial capitalism based on national production to a globalized financial capitalism represented important theoretical challenges that are manifested in the theoretical discussions on globalization. 4. The consolidation and “academization” of the social sciences, especially sociology in the university systems.

Today, there are signs that this boom of theoretical discussions and debates has run out of steam. The panel would like to address the following questions: What are the intellectual and institutional reasons for this crisis? What are the consequences? Finally, suggestions will be made as to how the crisis might be overcome. This panel is based on the assumption that this will be feasible if current social-theoretical debates succeed to reconnect with the issues of the 1990s, many of which are still pending.

Session Organizer:
Oliver KOZLAREK, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo, Mexico
Chair:
Kornelia HAHN, University of Salzburg, Austria
Oral Presentations
The Possibility of Launching a "New Theoretical Movement from Latin America
Hector Raul SOLIS GADEA, University of Guadalajara, Mexico
Theory and Social Transformation: Social Sciences in Mexico in the 21st Century
Oscar CONTRERAS MONTELLANO, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Mexico
La Crisis Crónica De La Teoría Sociológica: El Parteaguas Del Siglo XXI
Arturo VILLA FLORES, Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico
Challenges for Left-Wing Theory in Mexico in the 1990s
Oliver KOZLAREK, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo, Mexico