Editorial

45 Años de la Escuela de Sociología y CC. PP: el Ecuador, América Latina y las Ciencias Sociales

Abstract

The text reflects on the 45-year history of the School of Sociology and Political Science at the Universidad Central del Ecuador, emphasizing its emergence amid major national and Latin American transformations—agrarian conflicts, capitalist expansion, popular struggles, and regional revolutions—and its crucial role in shaping a locally grounded critical social science. Quintero explains how the School helped institutionalize sociology and political science in Ecuador, linking theory to national realities and providing tools to analyze inequality, state crisis, dependency, and democratic struggles. Although contemporary Ecuador faces “a climate of distrust” and persistent tensions between economic elites and society, the author argues that social sciences remain essential for recovering popular voices, strengthening democratic participation, and building alternatives rooted in a “terrigenous,” critical, and socially committed perspective.