In Search of the Changing Latin American State

A Life Journey

Abstract

In this article I present some key elements that mark my trajectory in relation to the sociological study of the state since the 1970s. I begin by describing the political-intellectual atmosphere that motivated me to study this state phenomenon in Mexico, as well as the challenges, tools and reflections that have arisen from the study of its changing physiognomy. In this context, I situate my efforts to conceptualize state formation in Latin America as a dynamic and agential process that reproduces and transforms state-society relations, both from above and from below.