Marta Harnecker (1937 - 14 June 2019) was a Chilean journalist, author,

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

, sociologist, and

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

intellectual. She studied the analysis of

labor movements The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

and acted as an advisor to the government of Cuba, as well as a collaborator with left-wing political movements within

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 ...

. She was active in the government of

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

between 1970 and 1973, and provided counsel to

Hugo Chavez Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...

between 2004 and 2011.

Biography

Marta Harnecker was born in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

in 1937. Her family had Austrian roots. She studied psychology at the

Catholic University of Chile The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1962, and did postgraduate studies in Paris with

Paul Ricoeur Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

and

Louis Althusser Louis Pierre Althusser (, ; ; 16 October 1918 – 22 October 1990) was a French Marxist philosopher. He was born in Algeria and studied at the École normale supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy. Althusser ...

. Upon her return to Chile in 1968, she taught Historical Materialism and Political Economy in Sociology at the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

and was director of the political magazine ''Chile Hoy''. In 1968, Harnecker joined the

Socialist Party of Chile The Socialist Party of Chile ( es, Partido Socialista de Chile, or PS) is a centre-left political party founded in 1933. Its historic leader was President of Chile Salvador Allende, who was deposed in a CIA-backed coup d'état by General Augusto ...

. Following the

1973 Chilean coup d'etat Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

against president

, she was forced into

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

and lived in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

until the death of her first husband,

Manuel Piñeiro Manuel Piñeiro Losada (14 March 1933 - 11 March 1998), also known as Commander Barbarroja (''es: "red beard"'') was a Cuban political and military figure, a leader of the Cuban Revolution, and, between 1961 and 1964, the first head of the Direcc ...

. While living in Cuba, Harnecker founded the research institute ''Memoria Popular Latinoamerica'' (MEPLA) and continued to write. After her time in Cuba, she provided counsel to

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 ...

n president

. In 2004, she married Canadian economist Michael A. Lebowitz. Harnecker died from cancer on June 14, 2019.

Publications

Harnecker wrote over 80 books, including ''The Basic Concepts of Historical Materialism'' and ''The Left after Seattle''. Her more recent books, including ''Hugo Chavez Frias: Un hombre, un pueblo'', ''Venezuela: Militares junto al pueblo'', and ''Venezuela: una revolución sui generis'', reflected her support of the

Bolivarian revolution The Bolivarian Revolution is a political process in Venezuela that was led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). The Bolivarian Revolution i ...

. On 15 August 2014, Harnecker accepted the 2013 Liberator's Prize for Critical Thought for her book ''A World To Build'', which was published in English in January 2015.

Selected works

*Harnecker, Marta (2015): ''A World to Build'', Monthly Review Press. . *Harnecker, Marta (2010): ''Ideas for the Struggle'', Socialist Interventions Pamphlet Series. *Harnecker, Marta (1999): ''Haciendo posible lo imposible: La izquierda en el umbral del siglo XXI'', Siglo Veintiuno Editores, 429 p.. *Harnecker, Marta (1990): ''América Latina, izquerda y crisis actual: Izquierda y crisis actual'', Siglo Veintiuno Editores, 305 p.. *Harnecker, Marta (1986): ''La Revolución Social: Lenin y América Latina'', Siglo Veintiuno Editores, 307 p..

References

External links

Biografía de Marta Harnecker
en ''e-libro''. (Consultado el 17 August 2008)
Marta Harnecker en Aporrea
– Artículos de Marta Harnecker en Aporrea
Marta Harnecker en Talcualdigital
– Notas biográficas sobre la autora. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harnecker, Marta 1937 births 2019 deaths Chilean atheists Chilean Marxists Chilean sociologists Chilean women sociologists Chilean emigrants to Cuba Chilean people of Austrian descent Former Roman Catholics Deaths from cancer in Canada