Martín Cortés & Inés Valdez | From Marxism and Dependentismo to Civil Society and Democracy

This talk examines how contemporary political debates centered on democracy are indebted to intellectual shifts that occurred during the transitions from dictatorship to democracy in Latin America in the 1980s. We will discuss the contrast between the political languages of this period (centered around civil society and the rule of law) and the dominant debates of the 1970s, focused on the state, dependent development, and revolution. We will assess both the promises and the gaps of the transitional frameworks and how they still structure contemporary Latin American politics.

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Martín Cortés’s research focuses on political theory, intellectual history, and the history of the left. His work examines the key theoretical contributions of Latin American Marxism, including critiques of linear time, the relationship between social class and political subjectivity, and the significance of the national question. At IAS, he will explore the concept of "non-Western Marxisms," analyzing the connections between Latin American Marxism and other Marxist traditions from the capitalist periphery, such as those of the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia.

Inés Valdez works on the political theory of empire, Latin American Marxism, and racial capitalism. At the Institute, she is working on Marxist dependency theory. A recovery of this tradition demonstrates that it has important implications for pressing issues in anti-colonial political theory. These include postcolonial democracy, the perils of rehabilitating the New International Economic Order, and the place of political economy in theorizing empire and anti-colonialism.

DISCUSSANT

Vera S. Candiani, Associate Professor of History, Princeton University
 

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Program in Latin American Studies | View More Events
Co-hosted with: Princeton Institute for International & Regional Studies

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