Pléyade 35. Social change and diversity: the challenges of a new coexistence

Issue 35 of Pléyade invites authors to send articles based on papers presented at the XII Chilean Congress of Sociology, which took place May 2-4, 2024 at Diego Portales and Alberto Hurtado Universities, with more than 400 presenters and 540 participants. The theme of the congress was “Social change and diversity: the challenges of a new coexistence.” 

Questions about social change and the challenges of life in common in modern societies have been at the center of sociology since its origins. In Chile, the changes that our society has experienced, owing to an uneven capitalist modernization process, the massification of education, a socio-environmental crisis on a planetary scale, the aging of the population and the transformation of productive processes, among others, have renewed questions about the life together, and about the subjectivities with which we articulate ourselves. 

The emergence of social demands for dignity and rights in different areas, including demands for social equality, gender equity and the recognition of sexual diversity, for care of the environment and biodiversity, has transformed the relationship between citizenship and politics, as well as the hopes for participation. The proliferation of social movements has changed expectations around recognition for different groups, territories and identities, with the social outburst of 2019, and the constituent processes that followed, marked a turning point. Moreover, the accelerated process of energy transition and the urgency to transition towards a type of society and economy with a lower impact on the planet, have meant the emergence of new challenges, which revisit classic questions of sociology in relationship to social change and the structuring of inequalities.  

The difficulty of effecting social change and finding new forms of coexistence in Chile is the topic of the 2024 Human Development Report, highlighting citizens’ distrust of institutions and politics, the disconnection between citizens, elites and social movements, and the polarization of public debate. Challenges such as the climate crisis or migration confront us with the urgent need to rethink new forms of life in common that can cope with changes in the coordinates of social existence, while accommodating a growing complexity and diversity of links and social projects.

Facing the desire for social change and the transformations in the hopes that mobilize Chilean society, sociology has the challenge of offering a historical and situated view of contemporary problems, of studying social life while taking into account the complexity of ongoing processes, to understand and channel social demands for transformation, and to contribute to imagining possible futures and implementing courses of action to achieve them. The papers presented at the congress explored these many challenges. 

Articles and presentations that develop some of the aspects of this call and/or other aspects that have been discussed within the framework of the XII Chilean Congress of Sociology are welcome.

Languages: English, Portuguese and Spanish

Submissions until: November 30, 2024

Publication date: July 2025

The editorial rules for authors can be found on the Pléyade website and article proposals will be received through the platform https://www.revistapleyade.cl/index.php/OJS/about/submissions.

Guest editors

Tomás Undurraga, Department of Sociology, Alberto Hurtado University

Tomás Ariztía, Department of Sociology, Diego Portales University