The construction of social movements as research subjects in Latin America

Abstract

This article seeks to contribute to the elaboration of a critical perspective on the processes of social mobilization in Latin America. Its starting point is the question of how social movements have been constructed as objects of study in this continent. In answering this question, I take into account how our ways of knowing about, and actions within, social movements have been influenced by: a) the contrast between old and new in terms of political action; b) theoretical perspectives and analytical categories that come from different disciplines (sociology, anthropology, political science, historiography, psychology); and c) the proliferation of research on social movements in recent years.