These forty years have seen the gradual structuring of the academic field of sustainability in the subcontinent. On the one hand, the study observes Latin America's participation and the intensification of the field of study over time. On the other hand, it identifies the most important actors and subnetworks, as well as the institutions that have hosted the research projects, teams, and programs that have played a crucial role in shaping Latin American environmental thought. The findings of our research also show that many academic discourses arc rather critical, calling for a profound transformation of current societies, and that those discourses have been developed in synergy with certain social movements that are struggling for justice and socio-environmental sustainability.