Objective:

this review paper aims to submit an approach towards a state of the art on social representa tions in Latin America. It shows an overview in relation with the Theory of Social Representations’ contri bution as a research topic of Social Human Sciences.

Method:

This research was conducted through a documentary review, classified by the creation of databases and matrices in the Worksheet Excel, as follows: 172 empirical research articles and 102 theoretical articles: considering the following phases: preoperative, heuristic and hermeneutic.

Results:

The most relevant research projects mainly oriented by the approach process and focus on fields such as health, gender, social problems, education, politics and culture, have been developed in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela and Argentina.

Conclusions:

In Latin America, the Theory of Social Representations as a research approach has made signif icant contributions in Social and Human Sciences field. Toward the understanding and transformation of social reality, the studies are conducted suggesting a predominance of the processual approach.

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