Heinz Dieterich or Heinz Dieterich Steffan (born 1943) is a German sociologist and a

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

analyst residing in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. He is better known for his leftist ideals. He contributes to several journals and has published more than 30 books about conflict in Latin America, global society and the ideological controversies that characterised the 20th century, among other philosophical and social scientific topics.

Life

Dieterich was born in 1943 in

Rotenburg an der Wümme Rotenburg an der Wümme (also known as ''Rotenburg (Wümme)''; ''Rotenburg in Hannover'' until May 1969; Northern Low Saxon: ''Rodenborg'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Rotenburg. Geography Rotenburg ...

. After completing his university studies in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

and Bremen, he moved to

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. Since 1977 he has been a professor in sociology and methodology at the

Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana The Metropolitan Autonomous University ( Spanish: ''Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana'') also known as UAM, is a Mexican public university. Founded in 1974 with the support of then-President Luis Echeverria Alvarez, the institution aims to be c ...

in Mexico, D.F. Since then he has shown a lot of interest in politics and

social movements A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and ma ...

in Latin America, and documented a great deal of their activity. He is considered one of the most important figures in the " New School of Bremen" in sociology, constituted by Arno Peters, Carsten Stahmer, and the Cuban physicist Raimundo Franco. This school implements principles of cybernetics,

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistr ...

and the "principle of equivalence" to sociology. In 1996, Steffan contributed to the creation of the alternative information website Rebelion.org, where he contributes regularly.

Ideological contributions

Steffan's contributions represent one of the most relevant references to analyse the theoretical and practical implications of the Marxist

anticapitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economic system, such as ...

leftist movements that followed the fall of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. His contributions suggest an alternative economic, political and social project, which the alter-globalistic movements lacked during the 1990s. In his book '' The Socialism of the 21st century'' (german: Der Sozialismus des 21. Jahrhunderts), Steffan explains the theoretical basis of the new socialism, which finds its most practical application in the revolutionary process of

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, and to a lesser extent in Bolivia and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

. Dieterich was an advisor of the Venezuelan government. Some of his most important books are "Global Society" and "Latin America: From Colonization to Globalization", which he wrote in cooperation with

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky i ...

. His ideas have raised several controversies, especially in Venezuela. The Marxist theoretician Alan Woods has written a whole book against his allegedly

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can ...

positions, ''Reformism or Revolution - A Reply to Heinz Dieterich''. However, his relationship with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez deteriorated after he defended General Baduel, who led the "no" campaign in the 2007 constitutional referendum. On 15 August 2011, he submitted an article to the website kaosenlared.net where he explained the reasons over his break with Chávez.

References

External links

Heinz Dieterich's section in Rebelión.orgHeinz Dieterich's section in APORREAHeinz Dieterich's section in "Kaos en la Red"Interview with Heinz Dieterich
A polemic from Alan Woods
Ruptura con Hugo Chávez
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dieterich, Heinz 1943 births Living people People from Rotenburg an der Wümme Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana faculty German political writers German socialists German Marxists Sociology educators European democratic socialists German male non-fiction writers German emigrants to Mexico