Democracy and economics

The topic which has brought us together at this Round Table organized by flacso is by no means a trivial one. To begin with, the crisis which the Latin American societies have had to live through and the dizzy pace of the changes which are taking place in the world have brought into question all the traditional approaches of the social sciences. In this respect, it is necessary to reflect seriously on the basic premises of the various disciplines as well as on interdisciplinary co-operation in order to tackle social realities. Secondly, an analysis of the specific topic which has brought us together here (the relation between the social sciences and democratization) is particularly appropriate in the current Latin American context of the rebirth of democracy.