The central phenomenon that had been capturing the attention of the politicised fraction of Latin American social science until the Covid-19 globalisation was the proliferation of a series of social explosions in different countries in the region between 2019 and 2020. The outbreak of the pandemic abruptly deactivated, at great speed, this expansive process of social and political instability from below. Seen from today, it is very important to try to explain the emergence of this wave of social explosions, given that they have an impact on the configuration of current political processes and governments in the region. In my intervention I will advance on four points, which need to be deployed sequentially. First, I will offer a description of the succession of events that shaped the social explosions in question. Second, I will make a very brief abstract detour to introduce some basic concepts of the sociological approach I have been developing and using for the analysis. Thirdly, I will rehearse an explanation of the emergence and progression of social explosions in Latin America. Finally, in the conclusions, I will advance some elements that allow me to explain why, so far, these major social contestations have been unable to bring about positive structural changes, despite producing some relevant political effects.

Esteban Torres

Visiting Professor at the Institute of Sociology, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, 2022-2023. Researcher of the Argentinean National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, CONICET). Director of the "World Social Change" programme, National University of Córdoba-CONICET.