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 or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

, followed by an

orthodox Marxist Orthodox Marxism is the body of Marxist thought which emerged after the deaths of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the late 19th century, expressed in its primary form by Karl Kautsky. Kautsky's views of Marxism dominated the European Marxist ...

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 ( , MNR) is a centre-right, conservative political party in Bolivia. It was the leading force behind the Bolivian National Revolution from 1952 to 1964. It influenced much of the country's history since 19 ...

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

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

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

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

, the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, and was the director of the

Latin American Social Sciences Institute The Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (, or FLACSO) is a graduate-only university and inter-governmental autonomous organization for Latin America dedicated to research, teaching and spreading of social sciences. Headquartered in Costa R ...

(FLACSO), in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

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