Presentation

Critical awareness of the present for the future of history

Paloma Marín Escobar

How to cite this article in APA:

Marín Escobar, P. (2025). Critical awareness of the present for the future of history [Presentation]. Revista Colombiana de Ciencias Sociales, 16(2), 414-417. https://doi.org/10.21501/22161201.5222

From a localized perspective, there is an imperative need to build a more just and equitable future. To achieve this, it is crucial that we foster critical awareness of the phenomena that shape our present. This involves to analyze in a deeply and reflectively way the social, political, economic, and cultural dynamics which surround us, identifying the structures of power and inequalities that perpetuate complex problems, social injustice, and a serious myopia that at the expense of the realm of the real perpetuates institutionalized arrogance legitimizing “other” realities. It means, they do not resonate with the current social identities. This exercise of critical analysis must always be accompanied by prospective view, allowing us to envision possible future scenarios and designing strategies to transform the reality.

It is essential that this process is carried out into an interdisciplinary and collaborative manner, integrating different perspectives and knowledge to enrich the analysis and promote more comprehensive solutions. Solely in this way we can generate situated and comprehensive knowledge that allows us to construct a future where social justice and equity are fundamental pillars. A collaborative and globalized approach enables us to address complex issues from multiple perspectives, enriching the analysis, and facilitating the search for integral solutions. By fostering continuous dialogue between the scholars and the social context, it aims to generate new critical identities and promote reflection on the challenges of the present, with the objective of projecting a possible future for all the forms in which the complex phenomenon we name “identity” manifests.

The volume 16, issue 2 includes five research articles, one review article, and four reflection papers derived from research. All of them adopt a critical approach to political, economic, health, cultural, and identity phenomena with a Latin American regional perspective that supports the aforementioned critical issues and backs them up by affirming the increasingly urgent interest of researchers, readers, authors, and academics in bringing local topics to the debates that impact the present and shape a prospective view of the society.

We are pleased to announce that the editorial of this present issue was led by one of the members of our scientific committee, Néstor Daniel Roselli with his contribution titled “Current Characteristics of the Social Practice of publishing in Science”. In this contribution, he presents an analysis of the historical evolution of knowledge dissemination as an essential requirement of science, highlighting how modernity and the scientific method have influenced the production and communication of knowledge. What is particularly relevant for the social sciences is the way in which interdisciplinary, teamwork, and globalization are transforming the scientific production. The author proposes to integrate into the dialogue the necessity of investigating how institutionalization, standardizations, and the impact of digital technologies are generating new dynamics in the management and dissemination of knowledge at a global level.

The research articles section opens with the title “La dinámica de la protesta social en la escala local. Río Cuarto (Argentina) en el siglo XXI”, by María Virginia Quiroga. In this article, the author presents an interesting perspective for the social sciences by demonstrating how and why most protests respond to national changes; specific local traits are imprinted. Thus, she proposes to understand the protest within the framework of Deep and widespread conflicts over various cycles, highlighting the active presence of agricultural-business workers and entrepreneurs in line with the profile of the city.

The second article titled “Acoso sexual callejero como barrera para el uso del espacio público por mujeres: el caso de Panamá” by Nelva Marrissa Araús Reyes and Javier Domingo Stanziola Valenzuela. The authors identify the perception of safety as a key variable and discuss how the phenomenon of sexual harassment is widespread and normalized, primarily affecting women. They propose the creation of comprehensive legislation and public policies that specifically address these behaviors and their effects, involving men, adolescents, and children in the design and implementation process.

The third article is titled "Honduran women in North Carolina. A vision from a gender perspective through five life stories", by Alfonso Vásquez Atochero and Rosa Rebazo Ortega. The authors present a study on the challenges faced by Honduran women migrating to the United States, highlighting how these difficulties are intensified in their case due to the reproduction of traditionally feminine tasks that they already performed in their hometown, hindering their socioeconomic conditions. The authors purpose raising awareness among scholars and communities about the need to empower and liberate migrant women once they settle in the destination country.

The following contribution, “Política y gobernanza en el turismo: perspectiva desde la economía circular en Tabasco, México”, by María Lyssette Mazó Quevedo, Violeta Guadalupe Rojas Carranco, Fabiola Itzel Ortiz Martínez, and Edgar Andrés de la Cruz Rojas. It identifies the incorporation of criteria related to the circular economy, concluding that municipal development plans do not fully integrate elements related to governance, tourism, and the circular economy. In this context the authors argue that governments must work in a coordinated and coherent manner in the application of these constructs to progress toward a circular economy model in rural tourism destinations.

The last article in the research section, titled “Obstáculos para la implementación de políticas de habitat de la ONU en el Valle de Aburrá, Colombia”, by Carlos Ayala Regalado, highlights a process of inequitable and exclusionary metropolization that is manifested in the proliferation of precarious settlements, substandard housing, and the degradation of public spaces. The author emphasizes the need to generate coordinated efforts among the Metropolitan Area of the Aburra Valley, municipal administration, and construction companies to prioritize territorial solidarity and the integration of actions among municipalities.

The review section consists of a single article titled “Revisión de literatura alrededor de las manifestaciones sociales en Colombia en el período 2019-2021” by Alejandro Olaya Arenas and Nórida Rodríguez Moreno, in which the authors examine the protests that occurred in our country between 2019 and 2021, their causes, expressions, evolution, and consequences, revealing the tension between state violence and some protesters, as well as the quest for legitimacy in protest.

There are four contributions that make up the section of reflection articles derived from research. The first of these is “Vigilancia epidemiológica digital: el rol de las aplicaciones móviles en la identificación de casos positivos para COVID-19” by Andrés Castillo Vargas and Sebastián Ramírez Estrada. Its purpose is to present a study on the use of mobile applications as a strategy for digital epidemiological surveillance to identify and trace positive COVID-19 cases, highlighting the controversy generated around data governance and privacy, as well as the need to identify new tracing strategies that do not rely exclusively on such devices to address future health crises.

In the work “El turismo inclusivo como indicador de calidad de vida para personas con discapacidad en Colombia: apuntes para el currículo” by Leonor Córdoba Andrade, Mónica Bibiana González Calixto, and Camilo Daza Trujillo, research and professional training curricula in tourism are explored. It concludes that, although theoretically, inclusive tourism is an indicator of quality of life, no research has directly studied this relationship. Therefore, it is important to strengthen inclusive tourism in academic programs as a transversal axis of the curriculum to contribute to the quality of life of people with disabilities.

In the article “Identity theories: from decentering to 'self-invention'” by Fabián Andrey Zarta Rojas, the author presents the advancements of sociological theories based on the concept of identity as a reflection and invention of the self, integrating the subject-context dialectic to conceive identity as a subjective representation influenced by the individual´s entry into the collective. What is at stake in the 21st century is a lifelong construction of identity, requiring reflection, analysis, and decision-making about oneself and the context. Closing our issue is the article “Críticas, ventajas y asignaturas pendientes de los Modelos de Elección Racional” by Germán Pérez-Verduzco, in which the author examines the main assumptions, characteristics, facets, and critiques of the theory from various disciplines. From this perspective, the author aims to explain social phenomena and generate knowledge, as well as account for its evolution towards the Broad Theory of Rationality (TAR). Finally, he reflects on the unfinished business of rational choice models, such as the study of individual internal states that generate action and the connection between micro and macro levels in the explanation of social phenomena.

We would like to thank the members of our editorial and scientific committees, as well as the community of readers, authors, researchers, and academics who trust in our work for the dissemination of knowledge aimed at generating new critical identities and fostering continuous dialogue between academia and the social context from situated and comprehensive perspective. We will continue to work with commitment and quality for you.