The object of this essay is to analyze the work of Boaventura de Sousa Santos, especially his understanding of contemporary societies and today's epistemological and methodological challenges. Based on a documentary review of his work and critical contributions by other authors, we distinguish his critical utopian understanding of today's societies, and the need to renew the processes of knowledge construction. On the one hand, this work integrates Santos' criticism of modernity with his utopian proposal and his relations with southern hemisphere epistemologies, the ecology of knowledge and intercultural translation. On the other, it identifies concrete strategies for knowledge generation from an intercultural perspective. The conclusions are oriented toward a critical assessment of the discussion developed with Santos, and its relevance in the context of the social sciences in Latin America.