ABSTRACT

This chapter aims at interrogating the social imaginary by showing its limitations in understanding the phenomenon that it represents. It proposes an alternative view, supported by the radical/critical traditions that the important text by Charles Tilly, Durable Inequality, revitalized. The imaginary of inequalities that the (neo)liberal order has imposed in the region is expressed in income inequalities between individuals, measured using the Gini coefficient and based on information supplied by household surveys. Therefore, the imaginary that the (neo)liberal order has imposed on a view of inequalities suffers from a quadruple limitation: it centers on the sphere of redistribution, it shows inequality as a result, it is limited to individuals, and, further, it does not capture the most powerful. The chapter concludes by stating the necessity of interrogating the imaginary imposed by the (neo)liberal order and of recuperating the politicization of the social in Latin America.