Theory in Latin America and the Incompleteness of Sociology: A Commentary on Fielbaum and Puga

Abstract

In the famous essay that Cuban intellectual Rafael Fernandez Retamar wrote on Caliban (2004), the reflection begins with a question that a leftist journalist asks the author: "Is there a Latin American culture? For the Cuban, the question carries a presupposition that basically translates into: "Do you exist?". This question finds a certain echo when we Latin American sociologists ask ourselves whether social theory exists in the continent, or whether it is possible to do sociology in Latin America and at the same time contribute to its theoretical development. As the contributions of Alejandro Fielbaum and Ismael Puga in this issue attest, the answer is more difficult than it appears. Faced with the expectation of a positive response to the above-mentioned demand, both polemicize with the intellectual traditions that have responded negatively to this concern.