Jose Carlos Mariategui and the Origins of the Latin American Sociology

BEIGEL, FERNANDA

The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Human Sciences

Springer Nature

Año: 2021; p. 2 - 14

José Carlos Mariátegui was a prominent figure in the origins of the LatinAmerican sociology, during the twentieth century. He created an indigenistperspective, a new methodology, and a rooted reading of Marxism. With hisSeven Essays to Interpret the Peruvian Reality (1928), Mariátegui produced asignificant move from the typical ?national studies? towards the analysis of ?theproblem of the indigenous people,? as well as a shift from positivism to Marxism.Moreover, this boosted the development of a conceptual paradigm that was latercalled the structural-historical method, the basis of dependency analysis. Eventually,in the midst of his contemporary social movements, this Peruvian essayistinaugurated the militant sociology that was to be developed across the regionfrom the 1960s. This chapter suggests, accordingly, that Mariátegui should beconsidered as the founding father of this regional sociological tradition.