The following working paper (the English translation of “Soziale Ungleichheiten und globale Interdependenzen in Lateinamerika: eine Zwischenbilanz” desiguALdades.net Working Paper Series 4, 2013) lays out the baseline from which the research approach of the research network desiguALdades.net was developed. Starting from diverse social inequality phenomena in Latin America, the network seeks to underline the multidimensionality of inequalities and their transregional interdependencies, taking a synchronic as well as a diachronic perspective into account. It thereby draws, first, on the discourse on global approaches to the study of inequalities, particularly world system approaches and transnationalism. Secondly, it is based on a critical examination of key concepts (like figuration and regime). Lastly, it seeks to link these to subjects and areas, especially the environmental dimension, that until now have received little consideration in research on inequalities.