Ecuadorian Sociology: historical journey and current challenges

Abstract

The Social Sciences and especially Sociology have diverse historical routes that have allowed them to reach the place they occupy today. Going first through a process of institutionalization, given in the middle of the 20th century. In this first process we can highlight the creation of the Latin American Association of Sociology ALAS, founded in 1950, where several theorists seek to rescue the context and the elements of the reality of Latin America in their studies. For this period there is a theoretical development of various authors such as Agustín Cueva, Fernando Velasco, Belisario Quevedo, among others, who integrate their own method focused on understanding the historical evolution of Ecuadorian society, emphasizing the economic and political reality. For the last two decades of the 20th century, they incorporated new discussions such as the cultural element, alternative economies, the environment, the urban, the rural, gender and modernity, as they are essential for understanding Ecuadorian society.

This article offers a brief historical tour of the sociological production, to understand the main debates and contributions to the study of the social world and at the same time articulate a retrospective and prospective look that makes it possible to establish lines of discussion in the sociological knowledge of the past and of the present, as well as for reflection on perspectives and new challenges.