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Marxism in Latin America from 1909 to the Present: An Anthology
The purpose of this anthology of writings by Latin American Marxists is to provide a working tool for both students and activists. While including theoretical, sociological, historical and economic writings, the majority of the documents centres on political struggles through the continent. The anthology's method is historical, considering the evolution of Marxist thought in the context of social and political struggles during the different historical periods in Latin America, as well as in connection with developments in the international workers' movement.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
365 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
About the author
Michael Löwy
160 books120 followersFrench-Brazilian Marxist sociologist and philosopher. He is presently the emerited research director in social sciences at the CNRS (French National Center of Scientific Research) and lectures at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS; Paris, France). Author of books on Karl Marx, Che Guevara, Liberation Theology, György Lukács, Walter Benjamin and Franz Kafka, he received the Silver Medal of the CNRS in 1994.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 23, 2026
A valuable collection of 20th century Latin American leftist thought. Löwy's introductory essay provides an overview of the history of the Left in the region, written at a moment (1990) when the cycle of revolutionary armed struggles opened by the Cuban Revolution hadn't quite ended, but new tendencies looking forward to the 21st century (e.g. the Brazilian Worker's Party) had emerged.
The collection is organized around the central debate on the 'nature of the revolution': given Latin America's subordinate position in global capitalism and the consequences for its class structure, what kind of revolution was necessary and possible? One school of thought argued that the region's bourgeoisies were too tied to imperialism and the landowners to realize the 'tasks of the bourgeois revolution,' which could consequently only be carried out as part of a socialist transformation led by the working class in alliance with the peasants. This was the position of the Communist parties in the 1920s, and later upheld by Trotskyists, left-wing Socialist currents, and--perhaps most importantly--by the leaders of the Cuban Revolution and the 'Castroist' current inspired by it across the subcontinent.
The other school argued that a 'patriotic', 'democratic' or 'national' bourgeoisie did exist, and that the Left's task was to put it in power so that it could complete the bourgeois revolution before any struggle for socialism became possible. This was the position of the Stalinized Communist parties from 1935 onward, with remarkably little variation. Löwy, a longtime Trotskyist, is obviously more sympathetic to the 'uninterrupted revolution' position, but the texts collected here allow you to understand both positions fairly and substantially.
The most powerful part of this anthology for me was the section on what Löwy calls 'Castroism,' i.e. the new revolutionary left current inspired by the Cuban Revolution. Reading the collection in sequence gives a very clear sense of what a dramatic break the Cuban victory represented in the history of the Latin American left, challenging what had been its dominant orthodoxies for decades and reconfiguring revolutionary forces across the region politically and organizationally. At the level of style, the sharp transition from the ponderous Central Committee resolutions of the Stalinist parties to the thundering manifestos of the guerrilla organizations is a mark of this change (Löwy, it's worth noting, was part of a current of international Trotskyism that was highly sympathetic to the Castroist/Guevarist guerrilla movements, and is less critical of some of their weaknesses than many other accounts.)
Particularly since I don't read Spanish or Portuguese, this anthology was an extremely worthwhile read, documenting a fascinating history that is often otherwise inaccessible.
The collection is organized around the central debate on the 'nature of the revolution': given Latin America's subordinate position in global capitalism and the consequences for its class structure, what kind of revolution was necessary and possible? One school of thought argued that the region's bourgeoisies were too tied to imperialism and the landowners to realize the 'tasks of the bourgeois revolution,' which could consequently only be carried out as part of a socialist transformation led by the working class in alliance with the peasants. This was the position of the Communist parties in the 1920s, and later upheld by Trotskyists, left-wing Socialist currents, and--perhaps most importantly--by the leaders of the Cuban Revolution and the 'Castroist' current inspired by it across the subcontinent.
The other school argued that a 'patriotic', 'democratic' or 'national' bourgeoisie did exist, and that the Left's task was to put it in power so that it could complete the bourgeois revolution before any struggle for socialism became possible. This was the position of the Stalinized Communist parties from 1935 onward, with remarkably little variation. Löwy, a longtime Trotskyist, is obviously more sympathetic to the 'uninterrupted revolution' position, but the texts collected here allow you to understand both positions fairly and substantially.
The most powerful part of this anthology for me was the section on what Löwy calls 'Castroism,' i.e. the new revolutionary left current inspired by the Cuban Revolution. Reading the collection in sequence gives a very clear sense of what a dramatic break the Cuban victory represented in the history of the Latin American left, challenging what had been its dominant orthodoxies for decades and reconfiguring revolutionary forces across the region politically and organizationally. At the level of style, the sharp transition from the ponderous Central Committee resolutions of the Stalinist parties to the thundering manifestos of the guerrilla organizations is a mark of this change (Löwy, it's worth noting, was part of a current of international Trotskyism that was highly sympathetic to the Castroist/Guevarist guerrilla movements, and is less critical of some of their weaknesses than many other accounts.)
Particularly since I don't read Spanish or Portuguese, this anthology was an extremely worthwhile read, documenting a fascinating history that is often otherwise inaccessible.
February 18, 2023
Latin Amerika'daki marksist siyasal hareketlerin gelişimini kısa ama etkili bir şekilde anlatan bir kitap. Yazar, kıta genelindeki hareketlerin tarihini 3 döneme ayırarak incelemiş. 1988 yılında yazılmış olan kitap başta Küba ve Orta Amerika'daki sol/sosyalist rejimler olmak üzere Bolivya, Venezuela, Şili hatta Brezilya gibi bugünkü sol iktidarların geçmişindeki tarihsel birikimi daha iyi anlamamıza yardımcı oluyor. Kitabın 90lardan önce yazılmış olması belki de Latin Amerika için en hareketli dönemlerden birinin kitaptaki eksikliğini okuyucuya hissettiriyor. Löwy'nin Latin Amerika Marksizmi'nin teori ve pratiğine dair bu notları 90lı yıllardaki sert mücadeleler ve "21. yüzyıl sosyalizmi" yorumlarıyla genişletilirse ortaya bütünlüklü bir çalışma çıkabilir.
March 25, 2020
Es un libro difícil de leer en cuanto a la lectura puede estar muy descontextualizada y fuera de coyuntura, sin embargo es un libro genial como referencia, ya que abarca cómo se dio el movimiento marxista en la mayor parte de los países latinoamericanos, contianuado en el tiempo.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews