Reading Mariátegui: the keys of José Aricó

Abstract

The urbanization trend in Latin American cities is currently one of the highest in the world. It determines that the increase in urban area is greater than the rate of population growth. In turn, cities use 75% of the energy consumed on the planet. For this reason, they are responsible in equal proportion for the production of greenhouse gases. In response, urban planning should incorporate design strategies to reduce said consumption. As an alternative to this trend, the objective of this investigation is to assess the impact of the different models of urban growth for the same city. To this end, variables related to land use and energy consumption associated with the building and infrastructure requirements necessary to accommodate the growth of the city per year were quantified. The results obtained were compared with the reference values of sustainability indicators developed in Europe to verify their potential implementation in Latin American cities. As a validation exercise, different urban growth models were evaluated in the Mendoza Metropolitan Area, Argentina.The work of the Peruvian author José Carlos Mariátegui constitutes an important milestone in Latin American history of ideas. Since his passing in 1930, there has been multiple reinterpretations of is texts; and one of the most salient points of discussion has been is adscription to Marxism. On the late 70s the Argentinian intellectual José Aricó stated that Matiátegui was one of the most important figures of Latin American Marxism, and compiled a book entitled Mariátegui y los orígenes del marxismo latinoamericano (Mariátegui and the Origins of Latin American Marxism). In this article we appeal to some theoretical tools from history of ideas to interpret Arico´s analysis of Mariátegui, focusing on one of Mariátegui´s more important work: Siete ensayos de interpretación de la realidad peruana (Seven Interpretative Essays of Peruvian Reality).Fil: Aguirre, María Eugenia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo; Argentin