Paper short abstract:

This paper will focus on Marxist socio-economic transformation debates in the long 1960s. It will show the political positions at stake and will highlight the transfer of ideas and interpretations in these debates. By that, it will draw a more precise map of Latin American Marxism of the epoch.

Paper long abstract:

The 'long 1960s' in Latin America have - under the pervasive impact of the Cuban Revolution - seen an unprecedented upswing in social mobilisations and generalised unrest. Critical and radical intellectuals played an important role in this commotion. In that, not only a general revival of Marxism was of paramount importance but more specifically an upsurge in intense Marxist debates about Latin American history: The question if Latin America in colonial times and in 19th century had been 'feudalist' or 'capitalist' and which 'mode of production' had predominated became a broad intellectual concern. These debates not only directly reflected in currents such as Dependency theory, they involved also high and passionately defended political stakes. Focussing on the socio-economic transformation debates in the long '1960s', especially in Argentina, this paper will draw attention first to the degree to which different political positions were negotiated respectively fought out by way of interpretations of the past; second, to the modalities of the transfer of ideas and interpretations, which reveal a high degree of mutual relatedness of left-wing and Marxist intellectual debates in the second half of the 20th century.