Politics of Liberation: A Critical Global History

by Enrique Dussel, Thia Cooper

Enrique Dussel is one of the world’s foremost Marxist philosophers whose work continues to have a profound impact on liberation theology. Here, the author presents an alternative reading of the history of the political world and the ideas that have inspired their political philosophy. He argues that our current view of the world needs to break free from being too focused on the thought world of Ancient Greece and on Europe. In this work he offers a reading of the political history of the world as an against-story, a story of an anti-traditional tradition.

610 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2011

About the author

ENRIQUE DUSSEL nace el 24 de diciembre de 1934, en el pueblo de La Paz, Mendoza, Argentina. Exiliado político desde 1975 en México, hoy ciudadano mexicano, es profesor en el Departamento de Filosofía en la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM, Iztapalapa, ciudad de México), y en el Colegio de Filosofía de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la UNAM (Ciudad Universitaria). Licenciado en filosofía (Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina), doctor en filosofía por la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, doctor en historia en La Sorbonne de Paris y una licencia en teología en Paris y Münster. Ha obtenido doctorados honoris causa en Freiburg (Suiza) y en la Universidad de San Andrés (La Paz, Bolivia). Fundador con otros del movimiento Filosofía de la Liberación. Trabaja especialmente el campo de la Ética y la Filosofía Política.

Reviews

[Elliot · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a joy to read this. Finishing "Politics of Liberation" completes a multiple year journey, begun in grad school, of reading all of Dussel's major works translated into English (sadly a woefully small amount). Dussel is truly that rare thinker and author who weaves together creativity and brilliance in order to remain in touch with the humanity and agency of the "wretched of the earth."

Dussel's Politics of Liberation is a "critical counter-story," both a history of politics and a history of political philosophy/thought, that presents a new vision, a new periodification, and a new framing of themes ignored or discarded by Eurocentric political philosophy. It is an utter rejection of the false linear sequence that teleologically progresses from Greek-Latin- Middle Ages- Reformation- Modernity. Reflecting at the end of the work, Dussel recognizes the pressing importance of doing this, writing, "it was necessary to have a historical-global vision so the new generation incorporates in its daily perspective other civilizations and cultures, and knows to situate itself in that context." As I reflect on Dussel's recent passing (in early Nov 2023), I recognize a deep gratitude for his political, philosophical, and ethical work as a moment in my own personal journey to to gain a daily perspective that is in touch with what Dussel terms the Exteriority/Alterity of the Other (the victim). I couldn't recommend this work enough to those on a similar journey as an inestimable resource (if you want to start somewhere shorter and more normative, less historical, I can't recommend highly enough Dussel's short work "Twenty Theses on Politics").

[Tino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obra IMPRESCINDIBLE.