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'etat, 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.

Framed within 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.