This book provides a comprehensive overview of the rich and diverse tradition of social thought in Chile over the last century. The authors emphasize the close relationship between sociology and society, and address large issues such as the institutionalization of sociology in the face of an open modernization process following WWII, the key role played by Chile in the regionalization and internationalization of sociology and social sciences in Latin America from the late 1950s until the 1973 Coup d'état, and the radicalization of sociology and the boom of dependency theories during that time. The analysis extends to independent academic centers that kept sociological thought, social intervention and the democratic dream alive within an authoritarian context, and the role of academic and professional sociology since the return to democracy, which has been attentive to accompanying and interpreting the development of a changing Chilean society. 

Framedwithin the country's cultural, economic, historical, social and political experience, this overview of the debates, dissemination, networks, and educational programs associated with sociology will be of interest to students and scholars of Latin American studies and historical sociology. 

Juan Jesús Morales Martín is Professor and Researcher in the Sociology School at the Universidad Católica Silva Henríquez, Chile. In 2018, he edited the book Filantropía, ciencia y universidad: nuevos aportes y análisis sociohistóricos sobre la diplomacia académica en América Latina [Philanthropy, Science, and University: New Approaches and Socio-Historical Analysis on Academic Diplomacy in Latin America].

Justino Gómez de Benito is Professor in the Universidad Católica Silva Henríquez, Chile, and he was head of the Sociology School between 1999 and 2013. He is author of Más allá del oficio de sociólogo [Beyond the Craft of Sociology], which focuses on identity changes in the sociological field.