Richard L. Harris - Marxism, Socialism, and Democracy in Latin America

Marxism, Socialism, and Democracy in Latin America — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work

Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "Marxism, Socialism, and Democracy in Latin America" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

1234567...72

Marxism, Socialism, and Democracy in Latin America

Latin American Perspectives Series

Ronald H. Chilcote, Series Editor

The Fitful Republic: Economy, Society, and Politics in Argentina, Juan E. Corradi

Haiti in the World Economy: Class, Race, and Underdevelopment Since 1700, Alex Dupuy

The Battle for Guatemala: Rebels, Death Squads, and U.S. Power, Susanne Jonas

Repression and Resistance: The Struggle for Democracy in Central America, Edelberto Torres Rivas

Radical Thought in Central America, Sheldon B. Liss

Marxism, Socialism, and Democracy in Latin America, Richard L. Harris

Cuba in Transition: Crisis and Transformation, edited by Sandor Halebsky and John M. Kirk, with Carollee Bengelsdorf, Richard L. Harris, Jean Stubbs, and Andrew Zimbalist

Available in hardcover and paperback.

Marxism, Socialism, and Democracy in Latin America

Richard L. Harris

First published 1992 by Westview Press, Inc.

Published 2018 by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright 1992 Taylor & Francis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Harris, Richard (Richard Lege), 1939
Marxism, socialism, and democracy in Latin America / Richard L.
Harris.
p. cm. (Latin American perspectives series; no. 8)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-8133-1322-8. ISBN 0-8133-1321-X (pbk.)
1. CommunismLatin America. 2. SocialismLatin America.
I. Title. II. Series.
HX110.5.A6H37 1992
335.4'098dc20 91-41765
CIP

ISBN 13: 978-0-367-00432-3 (hbk)

Contents

Guide

• AMNLAE Nicaraguan Women's Association
• ANAP National Association of Small Farmers (Cuba)
• APP Area of People's Property (Nicaragua)
• ARENA National Republican Alliance (El Salvador)
• ASI Socialist Accord (Peru)
• CDR Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (Cuba)
• CLS Committee for Labor Solidarity (Trinidad)
• CPSU Communist Party of the Soviet Union
• CTC Confederation of Cuban Workers
• FDR Democratic Revolutionary Front (El Salvador)
• FMC Federation of Cuban Women
• FMLN Farabundo Mart Front for National Liberation (El Salvador)
• FOCEP Worker Peasant Student Popular Front (Peru)
• FSLN Sandinista Front for National Liberation (Nicaragua)
• GDP gross domestic product
• GNP gross national product
• IU United Left (Peru)
• MAPU Movement for Unified Popular Action (Chile)
• MAS Movement Toward Socialism (Venezuela)
• MRTA Revolutionary Movement Tpac Amaru (Peru)
• NEP New Economic Policy (USSR)
• NJM New Jewel Movement (Grenada)
• PCP Peruvian Communist Party
• PRG People's Revolutionary Government (Grenada)
• PUM Unified Mariateguist Party (Peru)
• SDPE System for Direction and Planning of the Economy (Cuba)
• TVP total value of production
• UNIR Union of the Revolutionary Left (Peru)
• UP Popular Unity (Chile)

1
Introduction

Marxism has penetrated so profoundly into our history that, in some way or other, at times without realizing it, we are all Marxists. Our moral judgements and categories, our ideas of the future, our opinions about the present or about justice, peace and war, everythingincluding our negations of Marxismis impregnated with Marxism. It is now part of our intellectual lifeblood and our moral sensibility.

Octavio Paz

Marxism is an important element in the contemporary social reality of Latin America and the Caribbean. In fact, it has influenced the thinking and social practice of Latin Americans to such an extent that they are often unaware of the many ways in which it is a part of their reality. At a time when the validity of Marxism is being questioned as a result of the collapse of the former self-styled communist regimes of Eastern Europe, it is more relevant than ever before to examine the extent to which Marxist thought and practice continues to be a significant force in the Western Hemisphere.

The continued relevancy of Marxism stems principally from the powerful theoretical and moral basis of this body of thought and practice. These qualities of Marxism have been recognized by many contemporary social scientists and intellectuals. For example, in her recent work on feminist theory, Catharine MacKinnon has stated:

Marxism is the contemporary theoretical tradition thatwhatever its limitationsconfronts organized social dominance, analyzes it in dynamic rather than static terms, identifies social forces that systematically shape social imperatives, and seeks to explain human freedom both within and against history. It confronts class, which is real. It offers both a critique of the inevitability and inner coherence of social injustice and a theory of the necessity and possibilities of change. (MacKinnon 1989:ix)

Because of its theoretical power and moral appeal and its preoccupation with radically transforming social reality rather than merely explaining it, Marxism has been and continues to be relevant to those who oppose social injustice and seek to build a more just social order. This is especially true in the Third World where there is so much injustice, exploitation, and human suffering.

This book demonstrates the extent to which Marxist thought on the transition from capitalism to socialism provides an essential framework for understanding the successes and failures of recent and past attempts to construct socialist societies in Latin America and the Caribbean. This demonstration is accomplished by providing a critical overview of the more important issues in the extensive body of Marxist literature dealing with the construction of socialist societies and then relating these issues to contemporary cases in Latin America and the Caribbean where revolutionary transformations have been and continue to be made by leftist regimes and political movements. These cases are Cuba (1959-1991), Chile (1970-1973), Grenada (1979-1983), Nicaragua (1979-1990), and El Salvador (1980-1991).

These contemporary cases of revolutionary transformation or attempted transformation are viewed from three vantage points: the perspective provided by classical Marxist theory on the transition to socialism, the viewpoints offered by Marxist critics of both the Soviet Union as well as other existing self-proclaimed socialist regimes, and the various perspectives found in Marxist and neo-Marxist thought on the problems and conditions confronted by revolutionary regimes in the underdeveloped societies of the Third World. These different viewpoints provide a historical background and a comparative frame of reference for under-standing the efforts that have been made in Latin America and the Caribbean to bring about revolutionary social change and to construct socialist societies.

Next page

1234567...72

Light

Font size:

↓

↑

Georgia Tahoma Arial Verdana

Reset

Interval:

↓

↑

Bookmark:

Make

Similar books «Marxism, Socialism, and Democracy in Latin America»

Look at similar books to Marxism, Socialism, and Democracy in Latin America. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.

Ignacio Walker

Democracy in Latin America: Between Hope and Despair

Irwin P. Stotzky

Transition to Democracy in Latin America: The Role of the Judiciary

Philip Kelly

Assessing Democracy in Latin America: A Tribute to Russell H. Fitzgibbon

Barbara Stallings

Debt and Democracy in Latin America

Thomas

Marxism & scientific socialism: from Engels to Althusser

Schumpeter

Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy

Kline Harvey F.

A Concise Introduction to Latin American Politics and Development

Fox Michael

Latin Americas Turbulent Transitions: the Future of Twenty-First Century Socialism

Richard D. Wolff

Understanding Marxism

Arif Dirlik

Marxism and the Chinese Experience: Issues in Contemporary Chinese Socialism

Michael Löwy

The Marxism of Che Guevara: Philosophy, Economics, Revolutionary Warfare

David Rock

Latin America in the 1940s: war and postwar transitions

Discussion, reviews of the book Marxism, Socialism, and Democracy in Latin America and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.