Thinking About Political Utopia from Latin America

Thinking about the idea of “political utopia” in the context of Latin America presents us with two paths: 1. Through an external perspective on our continent, that is, based on ideas emerging from European modernity (including the United States in more recent times) that constitute a “colonial ideal” about how this region should be organized politically, socially, and economically. Or 2. To think about political utopia from Latin America, in accordance with the political-philosophical project of authors associated with movements like liberation philosophy or decolonial thought, for example: Enrique Dussel, Nelson Maldonado Torres, or Franz Hinkelammert. Thinking about political utopia from Latin America implies a critical perspective on how European modernity has constructed its idea of Latin America. Based on notions of superiority/inferiority, parameters have been established that position the Latin American region below nations considered part of the “first world.” Epistemological, political, and economic considerations are some of the topics we will address in this work. The doubt regarding the rational capacity of non-European populations (which appears in the ideas of canonical authors of European philosophy) exemplifies the construction of superiority/inferiority relations between both regions. These ideas have even been foundational for justifying the colonization processes various countries have endured, including Latin American countries. These colonization processes should not be viewed as overcome historical events. The current power relations between regions are anchored in historical colonial practices, and even today we can witness the economic, political, or epistemological impositions that continue to consider Latin America as an inferior, dependent region, incapable of organizing itself independently, much less managing its resources (natural and economic) autonomously. Given these aspects, the objective of this work is to focus on these current practices of constructing inferiority and imposing economic and political practices on the countries of the Latin American region as a remnant of historical colonial practices and their intellectual references.