Mariátegui and Latin American Marxist Feminism: A Necessary Revisit

• Author: Joana das Flores Duarte
• Published date: 01 July 2022
• Date: 01 July 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X221095829
• Subject Matter: Articles: Maríategui

https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X221095829

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES, Issue 245, Vol. 49 No. 4, July 2022, 31–44

DOI: 10.1177/0094582X221095829

© 2022 Latin American Perspectives

31

Mariátegui and Latin American Marxist Feminism

A Necessary Revisit

by

Joana das Flores Duarte

Translated by

Heather Hayes

Of the vast political, intellectual, artistic, and literary contribution of the Marxist José

Carlos Mariátegui, the attention he gave to the feminist movement and women's struggles

in 1924 was groundbreaking even to his followers. The revolutionary character he attrib-

uted, in the light of Marxist theory, to the entry of women into the workforce was aimed

at showing that the development of productive forces was inherent to struggles between

capital and labor. On the eve of the centennial of the publication of his “La mujer y la

politica” and “Las reivindicaciones feministas,” Mariátegui's ideas are current from a

political and organizational point of view not only with regard to class struggle but, above

all, with regard the intersection between Marxist thought and contemporary Latin

American feminism.

El marxista José Carlos Mariátegui cuenta con una vasta contribución política, intelec-

tual, artística y literaria. De entre su obra, la atención que prestó al movimiento feminista

y a las luchas de las mujeres en 1924 resultó innovadora incluso para sus seguidores. El

carácter revolucionario que atribuía, bajo el lente de la teoría marxista, a la entrada de las

mujeres en la fuerza de trabajo tenía como objetivo mostrar que el desarrollo de las fuerzas

productivas era inherente a las luchas entre el capital y el trabajo. En vísperas del cente-

nario de la publicación de sus textos “La mujer y la política” y “Las reivindicaciones

feministas,” las ideas de Mariátegui resultan actuales desde un punto de vista político y

organizativo no solo en lo que respecta a la lucha de clases sino, sobre todo, en relación a

la intersección entre el pensamiento marxista y el feminismo latinoamericano contemporá-

neo.

Keywords: Mariátegui, Work, Women, Latin American feminism, Marxism

Aware of the changes arising from industrialization and the monetization of

the Peruvian female workforce, José Carlos Mariátegui showed that the impacts

of capitalism on the working class were linked to the degradation of life and

work and of women. According to him, peasant women, driven from their land

to degraded urban spaces, were the first to feel the capitalist and imperialist yoke.

His criticism arose from the specific reality that he experienced, but it was also

based on the theoretical and practical foundation of the Russian Revolution and

Joana das Flores Duarte is an adjunct professor in the graduate program in social work and social

policy at the Universidade Federal de São Paulo and a member of the CLACSO working group

on feminisms, resistance, and emancipation. Heather Hayes is a translator in Quito, Ecuador.

1095829LAPXXX10.1177/0094582X221095829Duarte/MARIÁTEGUI AND LATIN AMERICAN MARXIST FEMINISM

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