Utopía y Praxis Latinoamericana

Presentación al número 109 de la revista Utopía y Praxis Latinoamericana

Ismael CÁCERES-CORREA — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Foucault reader of Nietzsche? Exegesis or interpretation

Jonatan ALZURU APONTE — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Abstract: In this paper we pose as a problem: what does it mean to question the reading of Nietzsche in Foucault? The backbone of the article is the distinction between exegesis and interpretation. Both Nietzsche and Foucault will be used to account for the distinction. Such an exercise will lead us to establish our position on the matter.

Institutions, myths and utopias. Conceptual relationships in the transcendental thought of Franz Hinkelammert

Hugo HERRERA TORRES — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The objective of the paper is to identify the conceptual relationships between institutions, myths and utopias in Hinkelammert's reflection on transcendental scenarios. The author, despite delving into the study of institutions, myths and utopias, which are three types of transcendental scenarios, does not explicitly establish their technical links, although some links are implicitly perceived. These scenarios go through the concrete reality of human beings. The incorporation of these then becomes necessary in the analyzes of empirical sciences. The results of the article indicate that the three types of scenarios, together, constitute an explanatory framework that helps understand past and current social dynamics. Myths provide the orientation of utopias, which are formally reflected in institutions. The behaviors of subjects in societies are precisely determined by institutions. Myths, consequently, are the starting point for the construction of social orders.

De-institutionalizing Science: revolution and public policies

Carlos MALDONADO — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper states a problem: in Latin America science is born and develops institutionalized. The name it acquires is public policies of science (and technology). Undoubtedly, such is science “from the top”. All existing systems and mechanism of knowledge management are such from the top to the ground policies, plans, programs and actions. Against such a state of things, this article argues that it is compulsory to de-institutionalize science and research if we want them to be critical, free, liberating. Four arguments support the claim; firstly, science is or a repository of truths and experiments, but a mindset or an attitude. The second argument says that institutionalized science is academic capitalism, centered around management and administration. The third one affirms that institutionalism and neoinstitutionalism are truly fascism. The fourth argument suggests that de-institutionalizing science is the gate, so to speak to also de-institutionalize life, which is the real concern after all. At the end some conclusions are drawn.

Technological and scientific advance from the philosophical perspective of León Olivé

Ricardo YÁÑEZ FÉLIX — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In the written production of León Olivé Morett a pluralist philosophy unfolds within which he reflects, among other aspects, on the problems that technological/scientific development currently presents, based on three constitutive moments —the ontological, the epistemological and the ethical—. Therefore, this important contemporary thinker points to a critical understanding of the conflict that arises between technological/scientific progress and the interests, values and needs of society. For what has been said, this article traces the philosophical position of the Ibero-American intellectual regarding the purposes and uses of the overwhelming march of technology in our world.

A philosophical approach to the value of biographical narratives in ancient philosophy in response to historiographical skepticism

José RUIZ SÁNCHEZ — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The approach to the biographical genre, when referring to the life, work, and opinions of ancient philosophers, constitutes a genre with a distinctive typology to the extent that its narrative about the philosophers' lives serves as an introduction to the hermeneutics of their philosophies. In this article, we will attempt to argue about the relevance of these biographies understood as an instrument that complements, while shaping, the philosophy of ancient thinkers, in contrast to a historicist view of biography as a genre that requires the verification of facts.

Between the Divine and the Digital: A Philosophical Analysis of Pascal, Kierkegaard and transpersonalismo

Humberto ORTEGA-VILLASEÑOR — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This is an exercise in philosophical reflection that attempts to critically address noteworthy oppositions between Blaise Pascal ‘s Christian humanism and Søren Kierkegaard and contemporary transpersonalism; as well, Gerald Raunig’s ideas on what he calls machinic and voluntary servitude, and the general depersonalization running through Western life today. In this vein, the need to reincorporate symbolism, mysticism and rituals into everyday praxis in the future, while considering certain propositions from Kierkegaard himself, from Mesoamerican thought, and from alternative thinkers of XX and XXI centuries. The aim is to make a viable attempt at healing, humanistic improvement, and a recovery of the meaning of life.

Potential modernity and emancipation from the patriarchal sex-gender system. Fictional exchanges between Bolívar Echeverría and Peggy R. Sanday

Érika CALVO RIVERA — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This text engages in a dialogue between Bolivar Echeverria's notion of «essential modernity» and Peggy Reeves Sanday's analysis of the origins of sexual inequality. For Echeverria, modernity's potentiality lies in the promise of abundance; while for Sanday, the cause of male dominance is rooted in the hostilities of the natural world. The fictional exchange between these two allows me to argue that the overcoming of civilizational scarcity, which Echeverria identifies as the essence of modernity, could also be seen as a feminist promise for overcoming the patriarchal sex-gender system. This constitutes a novel argument with which I aim to deepen the debate on the link between modernity and feminism and expand, from a gender perspective, the horizons of possibility of the alternative modernity advocated by Bolívar Echeverría.

The End of Popular Education? Perspectives and Possibilities from Community Accompaniment

João ALMEIDA — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The role of cultural workers in the context of capitalist modernity and increasing job precariousness, particularly within universities. Using a methodology based on theoretical review and case studies in rural communities of Latin America (2020-2023), the study explores the tensions between political proselytism and community-based educational functions. The results indicate that universities have lost their legitimacy as spaces for cultural construction, while cultural workers face a devaluation of their role. In response, "community accompaniment" is proposed as an alternative to revitalize community ties, strengthen autonomy, and contribute to Buen Vivir, in contrast to the neoliberal dynamics that erode the foundations of popular education and community bonds.

The conciliation of aesthetics and ethics in contemporary animalist art

Carmen GUTIÉRREZ-JORDANO — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article addresses the problem of the relationship between aesthetics and ethics in animalist art. The starting point is the affirmation of art as a suitable field to deal with the maltreatment and cruelty that animals receive from human beings. The animals are used by an art without animalistic intention and with symbolic pretensions, or by a properly animalistic art. The main ethical problem that arises concerns animalistic art, which, with the intention of ethically defending animals, treats them cruelly. The method of the work is the hermeneutic interpretation of texts and works of art. The objective is to clarify the problem of the reconciliation of the aesthetic and the ethical in current animalistic art. It is concluded that the solution to the problem of the relationship between aesthetics and ethics lies in the fact that the aesthetic is something internal to the ethical.

The Reconfiguration of Human Being and Society in the Age of Posthumanism: Philosophical and Political Reflections on Nature, Identity, and Justice

Idana RINCÓN SOTO — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article explores the intersection between metaphilosophy, social and political philosophy, and the currents of transhumanism and posthumanism, analyzing how technological advances, such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology, are reconfiguring the concept of humanity and social structures. The objective is to generate a theoretical framework that allows reflection on the ethical, political and social implications of these developments. The methodology applied is theoretical-analytical in nature, using a critical review of key authors such as Habermas (2003), Bostrom (2014) and Zuboff (2019, among others), to address how technological innovations are challenging the limits of the human and their repercussions on power dynamics. The results indicate that technology is accentuating social inequalities, putting free will at risk and creating new hierarchies based on access to advances such as gene editing or automation. In addition, it raises the need to develop ethical frameworks that regulate these technologies and protect the most vulnerable people. In conclusion, the convergence between philosophy and technology drives us to rethink the foundations of human existence. It is urgent to establish ethical and political structures that guide the use of emerging technologies towards the common good, preventing them from deepening inequalities and dehumanizing society.

Review by: SÁNCHEZ VÁSQUEZ, Adolfo. Filosofia da práxis. tradução de Luiz Fernando Cardoso.2º ed. Rio de Janeiro, Paz e Terra, 1977, 454pp.

Átila SILVA — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

“The Philosophy of Praxis”, written by Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez, is a fundamental work for understanding the relationship between theory and practice in the field of philosophy. Originally published in 1967, this review briefly covers the introduction, the first, and the second parts of the book, highlighting its main chapters. The work becomes important for the discussion in the field of education, as the book addresses the awareness of praxis and the need to prepare individuals to face the challenges and opportunities brought by social transformations.

Ayotzinapa. Urgent Reflections to End the Perpetuity of Violence. Review by: ALONSO REYNOSO Carlos. (2025). AYOTZINAPA. Un movimiento digno, persistente e indómito. Cátedra Interinstitucional. Universidad de Guadalajara-CIESAS-Jorge Alonso. 776pp.

Francisco de PARRES GÓMEZ — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The book Ayotzinapa. Un movimiento digno, persistente e indómito [Ayotzinapa. A Dignified, Persistent, and Indomitable Movement], by Carlos Alonso Reynoso, offers a rigorous and committed analysis of one of the most emblematic cases of enforced disappearance in Mexico. Based on a documented and critical chronicle, the work reconstructs the events since 2016 surrounding the 43 disappeared students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Normal School, contextualizing the tragedy within a framework of structural violence, impunity, and collusion between the state and organized crime. The author examines the political, social, and cultural dimensions of the case, the persistent struggle of the families for truth and justice, as well as the national and international implications that reveal a deep human rights crisis in Mexico. This text becomes a key tool for understanding enforced disappearances in Latin America and the social resistance demanding memory, reparation, and structural transformation.

Libro completo: "Ayotzinapa: Un movimiento digno, persistente e indómito"

Carlos ALONSO REYNOSO — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Carlos Alonso Reynoso's book Ayotzinapa: A Dignified, Persistent, and Untamable Movement offers a detailed chronicle of the movement led by the parents of the 43 missing students from Ayotzinapa, from the early days of the crime to the ninth anniversary of the tragedy. Through an exhaustive analysis, the author describes the various stages of the movement, struggles against impunity, advancements in the investigations, and the political pressures that have influenced the case. Throughout the chapters, it is discussed how Mexican authorities have attempted to cover up the events and how society and international organizations have played a key role in raising awareness and supporting the demands for justice.

ISBN: 978-607-26939-0-6

Libro completo: "Tierra, historia y pueblo. Memorias y accipon política en la comunidad indígena de Mezcala Jalisco"

Blanca Rocío MARTÍNEZ MORENO — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

El libro Tierra, historia y pueblo de Blanca Rocío Martínez Moreno estudia la historia política de la comunidad indígena coca de Mezcala (Jalisco), a partir de sus prácticas de defensa territorial. El objetivo es demostrar que la acción política de esta comunidad se configura históricamente desde su memoria colectiva y en torno a la defensa de su tierra comunal. Mediante fuentes documentales, archivos, entrevistas y juicios agrarios, la autora reconstruye cinco momentos históricos clave, desde el siglo XVI hasta el presente, donde la comunidad despliega movilizaciones organizadas que conforman su identidad política. El hallazgo central es que la defensa del territorio no solo expresa continuidad cultural, sino que constituye el eje articulador de su estructura política y de su memoria viva. La autora discute cómo el título primordial de 1534, las luchas insurgentes (1812–1816), y la Asamblea General de Comuneros, muestran una política ancestral de resistencia que se transforma sin disolverse. La conclusión es que Mezcala configura su presente político desde una historicidad comunal que desborda los marcos institucionales del Estado.