Social Stratification Research in Latin America

Abstract

To Understand the development of research on latin america we must not overlook the present status of the social sciences throughout the world. One of the characteristics of the contemporary world is that distances hardly exist; scientists thus continually stage “invasions” from more developed into the so-called underdeveloped societies. Such phenomena, of course, existed in the past, too; the origin of anthropology is linked to the study of primitive societies in colonial times. The amount of resources available today, modern transportation facilities, and the constantly growing number of researchers make it increasingly impossible that one area or country could be without social scientists studying something.