Bolívar Echeverría’s concept of «baroque modernity»

• In Event: Frankfurt School in Latin America

Abstract

This paper evaluates Ecuadoran-Mexican philosopher Bolívar Echeverría’s concept of «baroque modernity» from the perspective of the political. It is divided in five sections. The first section discusses the resurgence of the baroque in contemporary critical theory and quickly places the author in the context of that debate. In the second and third sections, I outline Echeverría’s distinctively political reading of Karl Marx and Walter Benjamin. I argue that Echeverría’s experience as an Ecuadorian living in Mexico as well as his background in Latin American cultural history overdetermined his reception of Marx and Benjamin leading to an original concept of (baroque) modernity –with deep epistemo-critical and political potential. In the final section, I speculate about some implications and future research trajectories.

Author

• Ricardo Isea