Paper short abstract:

Drawing on the radical human-centred political projects of Liberation Theology and Critical Pedagogy in Latin America, this paper critiques the understanding of empowerment that underpins the Human Development practices implemented in the region in recent decades based on the work of Amartya Sen.

Paper long abstract:

Globally, but in Latin America in particular, the mushrooming of participatory practices of democracy and entrepreneurial projects of development has accompanied the consolidation of the Human Development (HD) paradigm, in shifting the locus of development to the individual. Welcomed as a quasi-revolutionary project that opened a long overdue space for the 'voiceless and the powerless', the HD discourse framed in the work of Amartya Sen's Development as Freedom (1990), has become the backbone of the mainstream development practices implemented in Latin America throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. Even when in the last decade many political projects attempt to challenge these ideas, the work of international agencies and some of the national governments in the region remains tied to the HD perspective. The promotion of the individual's political and economic empowerment within participatory practices of democracy has, however, an antecedent in the radical Latin American political projects of the 60s-70s. With a central focus on the role of the individual in achieving socio-economic emancipation, Liberation Theology (e.g. Gustavo Gutierrez and Leonardo Boff) and Critical Pedagogy (e.g. Paulo Freire) present several convergences with and challenges to HD and the work of Sen in particular. This paper theoretically critiques the latter's conception of human empowerment from the perspective of those radical human-centred projects of liberation. By bringing together two sets of literature this paper will explore the limits of the potential of mainstream development practices of empowerment to effectively achieve Development as freedom for the individual, and thus, its emancipation.

Paper short abstract:

This paper will focus on Marxist socio-economic transformation debates in the long 1960s. It will show the political positions at stake and will highlight the transfer of ideas and interpretations in these debates. By that, it will draw a more precise map of Latin American Marxism of the epoch.

Paper long abstract:

The 'long 1960s' in Latin America have - under the pervasive impact of the Cuban Revolution - seen an unprecedented upswing in social mobilisations and generalised unrest. Critical and radical intellectuals played an important role in this commotion. In that, not only a general revival of Marxism was of paramount importance but more specifically an upsurge in intense Marxist debates about Latin American history: The question if Latin America in colonial times and in 19th century had been 'feudalist' or 'capitalist' and which 'mode of production' had predominated became a broad intellectual concern. These debates not only directly reflected in currents such as Dependency theory, they involved also high and passionately defended political stakes. Focussing on the socio-economic transformation debates in the long '1960s', especially in Argentina, this paper will draw attention first to the degree to which different political positions were negotiated respectively fought out by way of interpretations of the past; second, to the modalities of the transfer of ideas and interpretations, which reveal a high degree of mutual relatedness of left-wing and Marxist intellectual debates in the second half of the 20th century.

Paper short abstract:

The paper focuses on the relation between the notion of Latin America Baroque and Marxist concept of use value.

Paper long abstract:

Bolivar Echeverría studied the capitalist modernity since the Marxist idea of two kind of value: use value and exchange value. Echeverría associated the first kind of value with a "natural form", where the work process has an equivalent with labour force and necessities. Contrary, exchange value develops the accumulation of capital and the abstract value inside the society. The conflict between both forms of value is, since Echeverría's perspective, unresolvable, and this produces four paradigmatic cultural positions: Romantic, Realistic, Classic and Baroque. Echeverría show the pertinence to focus, especially in Latin America, in the Baroque strategy. It is the one that in the history of the region supports and highlights the value of use. Also, this strategy develops complex forms of resistance to the capitalist system.

Paper short abstract:

This paper will explore the way in which the shantytowns association Federación de Villas y Barrios de Emergencia (Buenos Aires, 1958) gave way to the Movimiento Peronista Villero (1973), in a context in which Peronism was becoming increasingly relevant for the urban claims of the shantytowns.

Paper long abstract:

The Federación de Villas y Barrios de Emergencia (FVBE; Federation of Shantytowns and Emergency Neighbourhoods) was created in 1958 by shantytown residents of Greater Buenos Aires in order to resist state plans of eradication and to claim for urban improvements in their neighbourhoods. After an initial period of intense activity (1959-1966), the Federation faced some years crisis, mainly due to government neglect and repression (1966-1971). By 1970, however, the FVBE was still a key reference for shantytown residents to resist eradication. At the same time, although banned, Peronism still represented the demands of the popular classes, and became increasingly engaged with housing issues. Peronist residents had cooperated with the FVBE since its inception, even though it did not sustain a Peronist claim, and were ready to expand this struggle. In 1973 the Movimiento Villero Peronista (MVP; Peronist Shantytowns' Movement) was created, with ties to the Juventud Peronista (Peronist Youth), but mainly as an independent association.

While in terms of representation of the shantytowns population it could be said that the MVP took up the role of the FVBE, in political terms the MVP was tied to a much larger movement, which gave it a distinct profile. This paper will explore the limits of the continuity between the FVBE and the MVP and will study the way in which radical struggles in the early 1970s converged in left-wing Peronism. The paper will expand ideas discussed in the Radical Americas Symposium (January 2013) related to the early years of the FVBE.

Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the competing doctrines and strategies employed by elements within the Chilean Marxist Left to overcome historic class and race inequalities during the period of Popular Unity government 1970-73.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the competing strategies employed by elements within the Chilean Marxist Left to overcome historic class and race inequalities during the period of Popular Unity government 1970-73. Based on doctoral research concerning social change in the indigenous heartlands of the south during the period of Agrarian Reform between 1962 and 1973, it contrasts the gradualist and constitutional approach epitomised by the Communist Party with the direct action tactics of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR).

Following the classic Marxist stages of history, the CP believed that wealth and mass support had first to be accumulated before fundamental changes in social structure could come about. The MIR, by contrast, modelled itself on the Leninist notion of a vanguard party. The idea that direct action by the few could achieve immediate revolutionary change seemed highly credible in the light of the recent Cuban revolution.

Social conflict in the impoverished and often lawless southern provinces, where terratenientes and displaced indigenous communities were involved in ongoing disputes over land, epitomised most starkly the continuities of power relations left unresolved by independence. These conflicts tested the Left's reformist and revolutionary strategies to the limit, ultimately leading to considerable disunity.

The contrast between the "slow-track" Popular Unity programme and the "fast-track" extra-parliamentary activities of the MIR and their sympathisers will be examined through reference to Agrarian Reform in the southern provinces, with a particular focus on the indigenous question.

Paper short abstract:

This paper will show the role of Marxist theory in guiding MST activity since 1984, taking in guidance from the Catholic Church or the academy and also the development of Marxist theory and intellectuals within the MST. Special attention will be paid to Gramscian thought and to MST intellectual Ademar Bogo.

Paper long abstract:

The Movimento Sem Terra (MST, Landless Workers Movement) of Brazil was formed through the activity of the rural subaltern classes, guided by the Catholic doctrine of Liberation Theology. Since 1984, the MST has engaged with several currents within Marxist thought, including the works of Catholic friar Sergio Gorgen and critical geographer Bernardo Mancano Fernandes. More than any other Brazilian movement, the Movimento Sem Terra has developed its own educational institutions. At the Escola Nacional Florestan Fernandes in Sao Paulo, the MST has built a relationship with Marxist academics in order to educate it's militants. This has included Brazilian Marxists such as Emir Sader and Leo Konder, and also those from outside Latin America, of which Istvan Mezsaros has been particularly prominent.

Based on field research undertaken in 2012, this paper interrogates how the MST has changed from a Cold-War era movement guided by Liberation Theology to a modern social movement which is producing its own Marxist intellectuals and militants, as well as educating members of political parties, unions and other movements.

Particular attention will be paid to the role of Gramscian thought in orienting MST militants in contemporary Brazil, as well as the role of MST militant Ademar Bogo in systematizing the experiences and practices of this movement within a Marxist framework. Consideration will also be given to the attempts to produce "organic intellectuals" in the Gramscian sense, as militants involved both in ideological orientation and organization of the production process.