El lugar de la sociología y la crítica en los tiempos actuales: una conversación con Carlos Peña

Abstract

In this interview, conducted in Santiago at the end of 2024, Carlos Peña reflects on the role of
sociology and critical thinking in today's world. The conversation examines the significance of sociology and the social sciences as vital tools within the critical and reflective framework of
modernity. In doing so, it establishes a direct connection between the practice of sociology and
the preservation of democratic ideals in modern societies. The conversation also examines the
connection between criticism, enlightenment, and the constitutive contingency of the social order
as a key aspect of sociological inquiry. In doing so, Peña describes what he considers to be some
of the philosophical and normative foundations of the social sciences, with a particular focus on
sociology. In his view -and in opposition to other descriptions based purely on data- sociology
and the social sciences, along with their theoretical apparatus, are central tools for unravelling
the contingency of what purports to be necessary or impossible in social life. Thus, he describes
an intimate and indissoluble connection between criticism, social sciences and democracy.