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Theorizing Liberation from the Underside of Modernity, February 19, 2006
This review is from: Beyond Philosophy: Ethics, History, Marxism, and Liberation Theology (New Critical Theory) (Paperback)
Enrique Ambrosini Dussel is arguably one of the greatest living Latin American philosophers and among the short list of leading radical philosophers globally over the last century. Born in Argentina in 1934, Dussel has been residing as an exile in Mexico since the 1970s. His moving reflections in the Preface to the book under review recount the political reasons for his exile and hint at the underlying problems preventing the actualization of liberation that Dussel's theoretical works seek to solve: "In 1973, I suffered a bomb attempt in my house, with my wife and children, because I expressed opinions such as those expressed in the texts here collected; in 1975, I was expulsed from my university and from Argentina for criticizing a military dictatorship put in power by CIA recommendation, one placed under Kissinger's strategy, whom the Spanish judge Garzón does not judge, but who was the explicit and public inspiration for Pinoché, Videla, and so many dictators of the period. It was Kissinger who began the international politics and pure doctrine of the `defense of North American interests' without any reference to ethical principles. Thus, I began my long exile in Mexico."
Much of my own introduction into Dussel's life and work comes most intimately through his involvement with the Caribbean Philosophical Association (CPA) and his attempt to bridge the work being done by scholar-activists in Latin America with the efforts of those in the Caribbean. Dussel is the author of more than fifty books and a staggering number of articles, position papers, and books chapters whose subject matters includes areas as wide-ranging as political theory, philosophy, postcolonial thought, church history, liberation theology, ethics, and Marxism. Among his previous groundbreaking books available in English translation are A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN LATIN AMERICA, THE INVENTION OF THE AMERICAS, and THE UNDERSIDE OF MODERNITY. Sadly, as a result of our current age that privileges works composed in English and dissuades persons from working in several languages, the vast majority of Dussel's texts have remained in the original Spanish and accessible only to those who read texts in that language. English readers are thus indebted to Eduardo Mendieta for a wonderful translation of a selection of Dussel's important essays.
Dussel's BEYOND PHILOPHY (2003) echoes the Marxian injunction that political action can only take place "beyond" the realm of the philosophical. Political action for those situated at the "underside of modernity" as a result of the invention of the Americas in 1492 requires attentiveness to thinking about the causes of post-1492 disorder and methods for overcoming the adverse effects of slavery, colonialism, and their aftermaths. Dussel rejects the notion of a singular modernity ushered in by Enlightenment Europe. He suggests the idea of multiple modernities worldwide, a "trans-modernity" as he terms it. Blending Latin American liberation theology with the ideas of thinkers such as Emmanuel Levinas, Dussel develops a compelling case for why Latin American thought is relevant for a global audience.
The book is divided into four parts, and it contains brilliant essays with titles such as "The `World System': Europe as `Center' and Its `Periphery' beyond Eurocentrism" (Ch. 3), "Exodus as a Paradigm in Liberation Theology" (Ch. 6), "Racism: A Report on the Situation in Latin America" (Ch. 7), "Modern Christianity in Face of the `Other' (from the `Rude' Indian to the `Noble Savage')" (Ch. 12), and "Was America Discovered or Invaded?" (Ch. 13). Make no mistake: this book does not address all of Dussel's important theoretical formulations. This latter statement is perhaps the most amazing, given that a mere sampling of Dussel's essays here far exceeds the insights of many other thinkers. BEYOND PHILOSOPHY is intended to be read as a companion text to an earlier volume of essays on Dussel's thought edited by Linda Martín Alcoff and Eduardo Mendiata entitled THINKING FROM THE UNDERSIDE OF HISTORY (2000).
In closing, if you seek an introduction into the political thought of a major thinker of our time, then I feel confident in recommending this book without hesitation. BEYOND PHILOSOPHY will open your minds to a radical, alternative account of human liberation. Hopefully, this shall also lead you to read additional texts by Dussel and embrace the Dusselian belief that liberation begins after rigorous philosophical reflection on the Other ends.
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