René Zavaleta Mercado (3 June 1937 – 23 December 1984) was a Bolivian sociologist, politician and philosopher. Zavaleta was an extremely influential Bolivian thinker of the second half of the twentieth century. His thought is usually divided into three periods: the first

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

, followed by an

orthodox Marxist Orthodox Marxism is the body of Marxist thought that emerged after the death of Karl Marx (1818–1883) and which became the official philosophy of the majority of the socialist movement as represented in the Second International until the Firs ...

phase, and finally his more influential unorthodox Marxism from a uniquely Bolivian perspective. Concepts originating from his work are fundamental to later development in Bolivian social sciences. Notable concepts such as "''sociedad abigarrada''" (roughly translated "motley society"), meaning a society juxtaposed by asymmetric relations of differentiated cultural power and its respective modes of production. Additionally considered important are Zavaleta's meaning of the terms "''mases''" ("masses") and "''multitude''". Today his work is considered essential for understanding the reality of Bolivian cultural, political, and social life. As a politician, René Zavaleta was the Minister of Mines and Petroleum during the revolutionary government of the

Revolutionary Nationalist Movement The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement ( es, Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario , MNR) is a centre-right conservative political party in Bolivia and was the leading force behind the Bolivian National Revolution from 1952 to 1964. It influen ...

(MNR). He also acted as a diplomat for Bolivia to

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. As an academic, he studied at the University of San Andrés (UMSA) in

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...

, the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, and was the director of the Latin American Social Sciences Institute (FLACSO), 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 ...

Publications

In Spanish: *''Estado nacional o pueblo de pastores (1956)'', *''Crecimiento de la idea nacional (19xx)'', *''50 años de historia (19xx)'', *''El poder dual en América Latina: estudio de los casos de Bolivia y Chile (1974)'', *''Bolivia: Hoy (1982)'', *''Lo nacional-popular en Bolivia (1986)'' *'

References

*Mignolo, Walter D.: ''On subalterns and other agencies'' in: ''Postcolonial Studies: Culture, Politics, Economy'', Volume 8, Issue 4, 2005, Pages 381 – 407 *Dunkerley J.: ''Evo Morales, the "Two Bolivias" and the Third Bolivian Revolution'' Journal of Latin American Studies (2007) {{DEFAULTSORT:Zavaleta Mercado, Rene 1935 births 1984 deaths Marxist theorists Mining ministers of Bolivia