Abstract

This is a reflection on the current gaps regarding human capital, citizenship, knowledge transfer and social training in the territory that comprises the Tarapacá region, northern Chile. This place currently presents certain levels of socio-cultural weakness that make it impossible for comprehensive development and the generation of transformations for the emergence of relevant scientific capital and situated economies, in addition to being competitive and inserted in the world, which leads the debate towards innovation, citizenship and the general strengthening of human capital. Now, there are -and there must be -many elements that explain why this weakness exists, including cultural, economic, educational, political, and historical factors. In this sense, the present reflection is an attempt to problematize this deficit phenomenon within Tarapacá, associating it, on the one hand, with a historical perspective and, on the other, with some socio-cultural and educational indicators that account forthe indicated situation