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Duke University Press

Postmodernism and neoliberalism in Latin America

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Postmodernism and Neoliberalism in Latin America

Author(s): Martín Hopenhayn


Source: boundary 2, Vol. 20, No. 3, The Postmodernism Debate in Latin America (Autumn,
1993), pp. 93-109
Published by: Duke University Press
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Postmodernism and Neoliberalism in LatinAmerica

MartinHopenhayn

The debateaboutpostmodernism has, at its extremes,twoopposite


positions:Onthe one hand,thatof "postmodern enthusiasts,"whoproclaim
the collapse of modernity, of its culturalbases, and of its paradigmsin the
social sciences, politics,art,and philosophy;on the otherhand,the posi-
tion of the "criticalmodernists," who recognizethe crisis of modernityas
a pointof inflectionthatdoes notsuppose the obsolescence of modernity,
but ratherformspartof its inherentdynamic.Fromthis perspective,post-
modernismis no morethanmodernityreflectingon itselfand explainingits
unresolvedconflicts.'
The criticalmodernistssee in the postmodernenthusiastsan intel-
lectualfad of the decade of the eighties,which,likeall fads, is markedby
frivolityand inconsistency.Thepostmodernenthusiasts,on the otherhand,

1. In the origin of the debate, Lyotard is the postmodern enthusiast-The Postmodern


Condition (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1985)-and Habermas the criti-
cal modernist-"Modernity, an Incomplete Project,"in The Anti-Aesthetic, ed. Hal Foster
(Port Townsend, Wash.: Bay Press, 1983), 3-15.
boundary 2 20:3, 1993. Copyright? 1993 by Duke UniversityPress. CCC0190-3659/93/$1.50.
94 boundary2 / Fall1993

see in the idea of the crisisof modernitythe reflectionof a wide rangeof


political,intellectual,and culturalphenomenathattranscendthe academic
fieldand permeatethe sensibilityof the people,dailylife,and the models
of communication.2 Inthe followingpages, we willsituateourselves in an
intermediateposition,one of "criticism withoutrenunciation" of modernity,
but concedingto the postmodernism debate a series of politicaland cul-
turalimplicationsthat preventus fromsimplydismissingit pejorativelyas
an intellectualfad.WhatI intendis to incorporate the postmodernperspec-
tive in orderto enrichor re-createpostponedchallengeswithinmodernity
itself.Iwillsummarizethe positionsof postmodernism in a schematicman-
ner, emphasizingits ideologicalambivalenceand its differenceswiththe
paradigmsandoptionsof modernity. Then,Iwillattemptto surveythe chal-
lenges that postmodernism poses in LatinAmericain particular by shifting
the emphasisfromthe so-calledcrisisof modernity to the equallyimportant
questionof the crisisof styles of modernization, whichwilllead me to con-
siderthe connectionsbetweenpostmodernism andthe currentinfluenceof
neoliberalismin LatinAmerica.
In Lyotard'swell-knowndefinition,postmodernismis the crisis of
metanarratives. Metanarratives are understoodas the transcendentalcate-
gories thatmodernity has inventedinorderto interpret andnormalizereality.
These categories-such as the advancementof reason,the emancipation
of man, progressiveself-knowledge,and the freedomof the will-spring
fromthe projectof the Enlightenment and functionto integrate,in an ar-
ticulateddirection,the process of the accumulation of knowledgeand the
development of the productive forces and of sociopolitical consensus and
control.Theyall refer,inturn,to an idealization of the ideaof progress,that
is, the convictionthathistorymarchesina determineddirectioninwhichthe
futureis, by definition,an improvement on the present.The metanarratives
constitutethe cognitiveparametersthatdetermineintelligible, rational,and
predictablereality.Perceptivethought consistsof using the facultiesof rea-
son to get to the bottomof phenomena-be they of nature,of history,or
of society-in orderto be able to predicttheirbehavior"rationally." Inthis
way,the metanarratives authorizeus to describeandnormalize; they show
us how thingsare, wherethey shouldlead to, and howto resolvethe gap
betweenwhatis andwhatshouldbe. Inthissense, bothclassicalliberalism
and Marxismare inspiredby a shared,Enlightenment origin,invokinguni-

has been perhapsthe most charismaticrepresentativeof this position.


2. Baudrillard
/ Postmodernism
Hopenhayn andNeoliberalism
95

versal principlesthathave, fora longtime,exhibitedenormousmobilizing


capacity.
The postmodernistsquestion the force of the metanarrativesof
modernity. Theypointoutthatsuchaxiomaticcategorieshave lostexplana-
torycapacityand legitimizing force.Theyassociatethisobsolescence with
diversecauses, amongwhichthe followingstandout:(1) the revolutionof
paradigmsin the exact and naturalsciences and its subsequentimpact
on the social sciences; (2) the accelerationof technologicalchange and
the consequentdiversification of processes and products,whichprevents
the perceptionof society in homogeneousand extendedunitiesand im-
poses increasinglyhigherdegrees of complexity,movement,and flexibility
on it;(3) the microcomputer revolution,and the resultingdiffusionof data
processing, which brings a proliferation of signs and languagesthat pul-
verizesthe single modelof rationality (oursituationbecomes interpretable
frommanypossibleperspectives,accordingto the softwarewe use to deal
withdifferentproblemswe confront);(4) the loss of the centralityof the
subjectin a historicalperiodin whichthe complexityof culturalstructures
and fragmentationmakes the idea of a generic humanidentity,neces-
sary forprojectsof humanemancipation,collectiveself-consciousness,or
any global utopia,inconceivable;(5) the depersonalization of knowledge
throughits conversionintothe strategicinputof newproductiveprocesses,
and the multiplication of information to totallyunmeasurablelevels, which
impedes preserving the idea of the subjectas the "bearer"of knowledge
and makes any ideologythat pretendsto integrateavailableknowledge
intoa comprehensiveinterpretation of the worldimpossible;finally(6) the
"communicative ecstasy"(Baudrillard) caused by the combinedeffects of
data processing,capitalflows,andtelecommunications, by virtueof which
nationalfrontiersand regionalidentitiesare dissolvingunderthe dizzying
pace of communication.
The discourseof the postmodernsituatesitselfin a positionof con-
summatedfacts. Itdoes notpresentitselfas an attemptto demystifymoder-
nity but ratheras an ex post facto verificationof the fact that modernity
has alreadylost its mystique.The postmodernists, at least explicitly,
do not
pretendto precipitatethe entropyof the conceptsand visionsthatgovern
modernity, such as the rationalityof history,progress,andintegration viathe
homogenizationof values. Rather,they claimto recognizethis entropyin
the conditionof the present.Nevertheless,forthose whohavefollowedthe
debate,itis notclearwhetherthiscrisisanddeclineof the metanarratives of
2 / Fall1993
96 boundary

modernityis merelybeingdescribedor whetherit is beingprovoked"from


outside"bythe postmodernenthusiaststhemselves.3Thisambiguitycomes
out of the contingentideologicalfunctionsthatpostmoderndiscoursetends
to assume, whichwe willexaminelateron.
The principaltargetsof postmoderndiscourseare, in summary:
1. The idea of progress.Forthe postmodernists,historydoes not
marchinan ascendingpath;itis discontinuous, asynchronic,pregnantwith
multipledirectionsandwithgrowingmarginsof uncertainty aboutthe future.
Thereis no internaland specificrationality thatregulatesthe movementof
historybut, rather,multiple,incongruousforces that give resultsthat are
unexpected,provisional,partial,anddispersed.4
2. The ideaof a vanguard.Sincethereis no singlerationality ordirec-
tionalityto history,even less recognizableand legitimateis the aspiration
of a groupthat appropriatesfor itselfthe rationalinterpretation of history
and that deduces a normativedirectionality on a global scale based on
this interpretation. Whetherin politics,science, art,or culture,and whether
the vanguard is the party,the state, the educationalelite, or an aesthetic
movement,no one can claimto constitutethe groupchosen or destinedto
establishtotalizingorientations.Oncethe categoryof the directionality and
of is all
rationality history questioned, vanguards seem to be investedwith
authoritarian and discretionary power.5
3. The idea of modernizingintegration or of integratingmoderniza-
tion.6Accordingto the criteriaof modernization, beinginstep withthe times
involves increasingproductivity, developingever-higherlevels of formal
educationin the population,and incorporating an enlightenedsensibility
intothe masses. This is rejectedby the postmoderns.The Enlightenment
andthe industrial utopiasthatarethe basisof modernity andthatpermitthe
understanding of developmentas a progressiveprocessof homogenization
3. "Postmodernculturedoes not guide or lead the process of secularization;it is its
Perhaps we should
product.Specifically,it is the expression of a hypersecularization.
understandit as an ex post facto rationalizationof a disenchantment."NorbertLechner,
"Lademocratizaci6nen el contextode una culturapostmoderna,"in Culturapolitica y
democratizaci6n,ed. NorbertLechner(Santiago:FLACSO/CLACSO/ICI, 1987),253-62.
4. This, of course, was the lesson of Foucault.See CarlosPareja,Mas alla del mitodel
progreso (Montevideo:CLAEH,1987);and BenjaminArditi,"Unagramaticapostmoderna
parapensar lo social,"in Lechner,Culturapoliticay democratizaci6n,169-88.
5. See, on this point,OctavioPaz, "TheTwilightof the Avant-Garde," in Childrenof the
Mire(Cambridge,Mass.: HarvardUniversityPress, 1974), 148-64.
6. See Pedro Morand6,Culturay modernizaci6nen Am6ricaLatina(Santiago:Cuader-
nos del Institutode Sociologia, PontificiaUniversidadCat6licade Chile,1984).
/ Postmodernism
Hopenhayn andNeoliberalism
97

are putintodoubtby ascribingto theman excess of normativity, an ethno-


centricbias and a pretensionto culturalcohesionthatprovesanachronistic
in lightof the "proliferation of variety"of the "newtimes."
4. Ideologies.To the precedingis added, for good measure, the
disqualification of all ideology,understoodas an integratedvision of the
worldthatallowsone to explaina greatdiversityof phenomenafroma few
basic principles,orfromwhicha desiredimageof order,considereduniver-
sallyvalid,can be projected.Thedisqualification of ideologiesautomatically
bringswith it the disqualification of utopias,understoodas images of an
idealsocialorderthatpossess an orientingforcefordecision-making inthe
present and thatprovide a unifieddirectionalitytoward the future.Ifutopian
thoughthas been considered,fromRenaissancehumanismto modernism,
as an exercise of the freedomof spirit,in postmodernity itseems morelike
an authoritarian ruse.7
Ifthe "postmodern narrative"declaresthe obsolescence of the idea
of progress,historicalreason,vanguards,integratingmodernization, and
ideologiesand utopias,whatis it thatit proclaimsin exchange? Basically,
the exaltationof diversity,aestheticandculturalindividualism, multiplicityof
languages, forms of and and
expression life-projects, axiological relativism.
The vagueness of this proposaldoes notdisturbits supporters,since itfits
in perfectlywiththe ideaof the indeterminacy of the future,which,according
to them,sets the tone of the times.
Inthese generalorientations, the postmodernnarrative borrowsfrom
multipledisciplinary sources. From and
anthropology ethnologyittakes cul-
turalrelativismand the critiqueof ethnocentrism.Fromphilosophyittakes
the critiqueof humanismand of the centralityof the (universal/particu-
lar,free/conscious)subject,and fromsemioticsthe primacyof structures
and signs over subjects.Fromantipsychiatry and the "radical" variantsof
psychoanalysis it takes the exaltation of polymorphous desire and the cri-
of
tique "philogenetic reductionism." From it
politicaltheory takes the idea
that society is composed of an inextricableinterweavingof micropowers
and "local,"ratherthan universal,power-games.Fromaesthetics it takes

7. This negative evaluationof utopianthoughtwas alreadypresent in the workof Karl


Popper(e.g., TheOpen Society and ItsEnemies,5th ed. [London:Routledgeand Kegan
Paul, 1966]). In a differentperspective,FranzHinkelammert also undertakesa critique
of specific formsof utopianthoughtin his Criticade la raz6nut6pica (San Jose, Costa
Rica: DEI, 1984). See also my own "Construcci6nut6picay practicapolitica,"Revista
Comunidad60 (1987):3-11; and "Mayo68-Mayo 88: Realismoy revueltaviente anos
despues," El GalloIlustrado1353, Weeklyof ElDia (Mexico),29 May1988.
98 boundary2 / Fall1993

the taste forcombiningheterogeneousand asynchronicstyles (the classi-


cal and the romantic,the baroqueandthe functionalist, the rococoandthe
futurist).Andfromsociologyit takes the recognitionof the heterogeneity
and complexityof social dynamics.
Allof thismightleadone to thinkthatpostmoderndiscourseis a sane
antidoteto the excessivelyethnocentric,rationalist, and mechanisttenden-
cies of modernsociety.Ifthatis the case, postmodernism couldbe thought
of as an internalmovementof modernity itself,a critiquemodernityputsinto
effectinorderto exorciseitsentropy.But,infact,postmodernism frequently
acquiresvery different pretensions and functions: In effect, it transforms
itselfintoan ideology,disguisingits normativejudgmentsas descriptions,
and ends up seeing whatitwantsto see.
The ideologizationof postmoderndiscoursemaybe glimpsedwhen
one focuses on the service that it lends to the political-cultural offensive
of the marketeconomy.Postmodernist rhetorichas been profitably capital-
ized on by neoliberalismin orderto updateits longed-forprojectof cultural
hegemony.Thisproject,the dreamof liberalism in itsformativestages, was
frustratedby the universalistethicof modernhumanism,by politicalmobili-
zation,and/orby social pressures.Whatmanyneoliberalssaw, especially
in the industrialized countries,is the possibilitythat reculturization, via a
seductivepostmodernnarrative, could serve to legitimize the market offen-
sive of the eighties, in otherwords,couldmakethe desires of the public
coincidewiththe promotionof pro-market policiesand withthe consolida-
tion of a transnationalcapitalistsystem. Itis no accidentthatelements of
whatwe are callingthe postmodernnarrativehave been disseminated,at
least in good measure,by neoliberalsand disenchantedleftistsseduced
by anarcho-capitalism.8 Whatarethe connectionsbetweenpostmoderncri-
tiques and the project of neoliberalculturalhegemony?Schematically,the
following:
1. The exaltationof diversityleads to the exaltationof the market,
consideredas the onlysocial institution thatorderswithoutcoercion,guar-

8. "Butthe dreamof the abolitionof state powerno longerfunctionsexclusivelyas part


of the socialist vision of the future.On the other hand, on the rightside of the political
spectrum,there appeareda radicalconceptualizationof capitalismwhichsupportssimi-
lar concepts. This unionof anarchismand capitalism... can be made plausibleby the
privatizationof up to now state functions"(HansAlbert,quoted in FranzHinkelammert,
"Utopiay proyectopolitico:La culturade la postmodernidad," Revista Nueva Sociedad
91 [1987]:114-28).
/ Postmodernism
Hopenhayn andNeoliberalism
99

anteeinga diversityof tastes, projects,languages,and strategies.Onlyby


expandingthe reachof the marketcan the interventionist and globalizing
excesses of the state be avoided.The state itselfshouldbe restrictedto
subsidiaryfunctionsin places wherethe marketshows itselfto be insuf-
ficient.Economicderegulationand privatization appearas almostad hoc
policiesforthe fullrealizationof the "ludicindividualism" heraldedby post-
moderndiscourse.Deregulation is the correlativeinthe practicalsphereof
the theoreticalcelebrationof diversity.Inthe face of this wager,in which
everythingis potentiallypermissible,problemsof socialdisparity,structural
heterogeneity,insufficient development,andthe likelose relevance.9
2. The critiqueof the vanguardstranslatesinto:(a) a critiqueof
the transformational functionof politics,unless the transformation is in the
directionof privatization and deregulation(anarcho-capitalism);10 and (b) a
critiqueof state planningand intervention in the organization,regulation,
and directionof the economy(by reducingthe state to the status of one
social actoramongothers,in orderto then objectto its interventionism as
involving the willto domination of one actor over the rest).
3. Withoutan emancipatorydynamicthat runs beneath events or
thatguidesthe actionsof humanity, nothingpermitsthe questioningof con-
sumersociety,waste, the alienationof work,the growingsplitbetweenthe
industrializedand developingcountries,social marginality, technocracy,or
the way inwhichproductiveforcesare misused.
4. The critiqueof ideologiesculminates,inparticular, ina criticismof
Marxismand its humanist-socialist variants;the critiqueof utopiastends to

9. Inthis sense, a postmodernvisionof LatinAmericais providedby Hernandode Soto's


best-seller,Elotrosendero (Bogota:EditorialOvejaNegra,1987),translatedintoEnglish
as TheOtherPath (New York:Harperand Row,1989). Inthis book,the Peruvianecono-
mist analyzedthe extensive informaleconomyof Peruand arrivedat the conclusionthat
the varietyof forms it displays, whichare unfoldingdespite state regulation,gives evi-
dence of the benefits of the market.In this way, de Soto transformeda problem,the
informalsector, intoa virtue,ignoringthe vulnerability
of resources and the povertythat
accompanies the vast majorityof the informalsector's population.The bookwas heavily
promotedin LatinAmericaby neoliberalorganizationsand media, and RonaldReagan
mentionedit withenthusiasmin a speech.
10. We find an example of this in Joaquin Lavin'sbook, La revoluci6nsilenciosa (San-
tiago: Ed. Zig-Zag,1987), anotherrecentbest-sellerpromotedby the neoliberalmedia.
As in de Soto's book, Lavinelaboratesa political-culturalstrategyof market-hegemony,
appropriatingterms that, in the past, were linkedideologicallywiththe criticismof capi-
talism ("marginality,""informality," in orderto redirectthem as functional
"revolution"),
strategies forthe expansionof the market.
100 boundary2 / Fall1993

focus in particularon egalitarianutopiasor on any idealthat proposes,as


a task of the present,the redistribution of socialwealthand power.
5. The critiqueof modernizingintegrationtransformsstructural
heterogeneityintoa healthyexampleof diversityand relativizesconven-
tionalindicatorsof development,such as expandedand improvedservices
in the fieldsof healthand education.
The synchronybetween the marketoffensiveand a cofunctional
postmodernistculturalsensitizingis noteworthy.It is here that our analy-
sis requiresprecision.The defense of a status quo governedby unequal
competition,social inequality,the willof the transnationals,and the dis-
cretionaryself-policingof financecapitalcannotbe automatically deduced
fromthe verification of the crisisof the modelsof modernity. The discursive
astuteness of postmodernneoliberalism residesin its effectivearticulation
of euphemisms,whichthe interestsof the centers of politicaland eco-
nomicpower,and of sectors identifiedwiththe "free"economy,can use
to cover themselveswithan aestheticaurathatundoubtedlymakes them
moreseductive.Itis moreattractiveto talkaboutdiversitythanthe market,
about desire than the maximizationof profits,about play than conflict,
about personalcreativitythan the privateappropriation of the economic
surplus, about globalcommunication and interactionthan the strategiesof
transnationalcompaniesto promotetheirgoods and services. It is more
seductiveto speak in favorof autonomythanagainstplanning,or in favor
of the individualthanagainstthe state (andagainstpublicexpenditureand
social welfarepolicies).Inthis way,the social contradictions of capitalism,
accentuated on the Latin American periphery,disappear behind the exal-
tationof formsand languages.The economiccrisis-the worstwe have
experiencedinthiscentury-is hiddenunderthe euphemismof a beautiful
anarchy,and structuralheterogeneityis convertedintothe creativecom-
binationof the modernand the archaic,"our"peripheralincarnationand
anticipationof the postmodern.
The above suggests some of the ways inwhichpostmodernism can
be used to producea "strategic" packageof euphemismsto dress up the
neoliberalprojectof culturalhegemony,whichis the ideologicalcorrelative
of the transnationaloffensive,in a way that penetratesthe sensibilityof
the public.Itdoes this, basically,by opposingan aestheticfascinationwith
chaos to an ethicalconcernwithdevelopment.The negligenceof the future
assumes the appealingfigureof a passionforthe present.The postmod-
ern narrative,however,is susceptibleto manyinterpretations and uses. It
cannot be reduced to the marketoffensive and to the ideological uses that
Hopenhayn/ Postmodernism
and Neoliberalism101

some neoliberal strategies make of it." This is so for a numberof reasons.


In the first place, many enthusiasts of the postmodern narrativeare politi-
cally situated at a considerable distance from neoliberal positions.12 In the
second place, positions such as the passion for the present, aestheticism,
the exaltationof diversity,the rejectionof ethnocentrism,the desire foropen
societies, the returnto pluralistindividualism,culturalpolymorphism,and
the prioritizationof creativitycan be adapted to politicalprojects of another
kind. Inthe thirdplace, the questioning of culturalparadigms and matrices,
in light of emerging scenarios, does not necessarily lead to the defense
of anarcho-capitalism. Finally,the critiqueof paradigmsthat have directed
the styles of modernizationand development has also generated alterna-
tive proposals and/or visions that, far from uniting with the deregulating
offensive of the market,seek to mobilize social creativityin totallydifferent
directions.
The followingconsiderations, oriented to LatinAmericanreality,may
be indicativeof such directions:
1. The industrialmodel, centered in the substitutionof imports,was
discovered to have less integratingcapacity than was supposed at its be-
ginning, as much in terms of its internalinsufficienciesas of exogenous vari-
ables (the heritage of Catholicism,etc.). The model also produced destruc-
tive, collateral effects, especially by imposing an imitativepatternin which,
in the name of modernization,questions of culturalidentityand ecological
preservation were relinquishedto sectors that incorporatedthe values and

11. "Theeverythinggoes [of postmodernism]is neitherconservative,nor revolutionary,


nor progressive .... Inreality,what has triumphedis the culturalrelativismwhichbegan
its rebellionagainst the fossilizationof class-culturesand againstthe ethnocentricdomi-
nance of an exclusive, correct,and authenticculture"(Agnes Heller,"Losmovimientos
culturalescomo vehiculo de cambio,"Revista Nueva Sociedad 96 [1988]:44). In the
articlepreviouslycited, Lechnerobserves, "postmoderncultureassumes hypersecular-
izationin its tendencyto separatesocial structuresfromvalueandmotivationalstructures.
That is, it accepts the liberalvision of politicsas a market:an exchange of goods. And
what happens to nonexchangeablegoods? I am referringto humanrights,psycho-social
necessities such as social rootsand collectivebelonging,the necessity of transcendental
referents,but also to fear and the desire for certainty.I do not see any considerationof
this in postmodernculture"(258). ButLechneralso shares Heller'svisionof the value of
the relativizingfunctionthatpostmoderndiscoursecan exercise in the face of ideological
and politicalreductionism.
12. Among them are includedsome figures already mentionedhere (Arditi,Lechner,
Pareja, Baudrillard,and Lyotard)and others fromthe Anglo-Saxonworld,such as Hal
Foster,CraigOwens, and FredricJameson.
2 / Fall1993
102 boundary

expectationsof industrial culture,at the same timeleavingothersectors in


a positionof frustratedexpectations,condemnedto social marginality and
economic informality by the same modelof developmentthatsaw the de-
sired benefitsof growthpass them by. The insufficienciesor trade-offsof
this modeldo not,however,haveto impelus to a neoliberalalternative.The
dynamicinsufficienciesof accumulation,notedby the EconomicCommis-
sion on LatinAmerica(CEPAL) fora longtime,andthe processof economic
growthwithoutsocial equity,whichhas characterizedourcountrieseven
in times of relativeconsensus regardingthe modernization paradigm,do
notfinda remedyinthe neoliberalprescriptions. Onthe contrary,such pre-
scriptionssharpenthe regressivetendenciesinmattersof social integration
and balancedgrowthinsteadof bluntingthem.Finally,neoliberalismmas-
sivelypromotesimitativepatternsof consumptionthathave verylittleto do
withthe exaltationof diversityand the criticismof ethnocentrism.To pro-
mote,inthe particular, a diversityinthe consumptionof goods andservices
may well be a form of promoting,inthe general,a specific,and implacable,
economiclogic.
2. The styles of modernization in LatinAmericahave shownan ex-
cessive privilegeof instrumental rationality Con-
oversubstantiverationality.
sequently,they have delegated instrumental and
knowledge power to elites
who have notacquiredrepresentative legitimacyandwhohaveoftentended
towardtechnocracy.The predominance of technicalreasonhas frequently
resultedin the sacrificeof social participation in decisionsand measures,
andina democracyrestrictedbythe powerof "expertise." the un-
Curiously,
criticalexaltationthatpostmodernneoliberalsmakeofthe newtechnologies
does not reversethis tendencybut rathercelebratesit, underthe pretext
thatthe new technologiesare "spontaneously" decentralized.Facedwitha
similar"technologist" triumphalism, the warningsof the Frankfurt school to
the effectthatthe crisisof modernity does nothave itscause ina supposed
entropyof substantiverationality or of collectiveutopias,but ratherin the
growingpredominance of instrumental reasonoverthe values and utopias
characteristicof humanismacquirefullforcein LatinAmerica.13 The nature
of the corporateinterestsinvolvedin the deregulationof the acceleration
of technologicalchange and the productivist euphoriathataccompaniesit
does notannulbutratherconfirmsthese "modern" suspicions.

and TheodorW.Adorno,"The
13. On this point,see the classic essays: MaxHorkheimer
Dialecticof Enlightenment" and MaxHorkheimer, Reason,"in
"ACritiqueof Instrumental
theirDialecticof Enlightenment(NewYork:Herderand Herder,1972).
Hopenhayn andNeoliberalism
/ Postmodernism 103

3. It is essential to examinethe roleof the state in LatinAmerican


societies in morethan one aspect. Inthe economicaspect, the centrality
of the state in stimulatingdevelopmenthas enteredintoa crisis of effec-
tiveness. Itis not necessaryto be neoliberalto objectto state hypertrophy,
the gigantismof the publicsector,or the rigidityof the bureaucracies.In
the politicalaspect, the examinationof the state'sroleis relatedto the new
vitalityof the theme of democracy,its principlesand its most appropriate
forms.The emphasison social agreement,citizenparticipation, decentral-
ization,civilsociety,and autonomyon a localor regionalscale aimto mini-
mize the coerciveeffects of the state and to increaseits social legitimacy
as an articulator of differentsocial actors.
All of the above does not suppose the alternativeof laissez-faire,
however.The markethas not provento be the most efficientmechanism
of decentralization, democraticparticipation, and autonomy.Undoubtedly,
the markethas madeimportant contributions to economicdynamismunder
certaincircumstancesandinsome countries.Butfrequently, ithas required
the helpof authoritarian and repressivegovernmentsto avoidthe conflicts
generatedby its discriminatory effects in mattersof access to goods and
services.
4. Itis important to reconsiderthe roleof planningin the economic
and social orderingand directionality imposedby development.This sup-
poses the critique of normative planning,the incorporation of new per-
in
ceptualinputs the exercise of the planner,the revisionof the dominant
rationalitiessedimentedin the practiceof planning,and a greatercoher-
ence in the articulationbetweenthe technicaland politicaldimensionsin
the decisionprocesses.14This,however,does notforcethe renunciation of
planning nor the reduction of it to its minimalexpression.Nor does it sup-
pose that all planningis the negationof diversity,the predominanceof a
technocraticcaste, orthe inhibition of autonomy.Planningis opposedto the
negligenceof the future,'5butit does not have to sacrificepassionforthe
present.Thisfuturedirectionality can, provideditfindsitsappropriate forms

14. On this point,see the papersfromthe ILPES(InstitutoLatinoamericano y del Caribe


de Planificaci6nEcon6micay Social),Revistade la CEPAL, 31 (1987);and CarlosMatus,
Planificaci6nde situaciones (Caracas:CENDES,1977).
15. No one can doubtthat the same transnationalcorporations,in large measure linked
to the crisisof state planning(andthe mostenthusiasticaboutthis crisis),planallthe time
and invest considerablesums for this. The strategyof the accelerationof technological
change and of growingdiversification of productsrespondsto an attentivejob of planning
by the transnationals.
2 / Fall1993
104 boundary

of application,give meaningto the present.It is not a questionof doing


away withplanningbutof designingit in new ways to meetthe challenges
of postmodernity.
5. Intandemwiththe previouspoint,the critiqueof the directionality
of ourpresenthistorydoes nothaveto be confusedwiththe rejectionof all
directionality. Whatis in questionare the styles of lineardevelopmentthat
use the presentstate of the advancedindustrial"center"countriesas the
guidingmodelforthe future.This is so fortwo reasons:in the firstplace,
because of growingdifficultiescaused by the disproportional demandsfor
investmentcapitalfor industrialreconversionand forcompetitiveresearch
and development,and the impossibility of servicingthe foreigndebt and
stimulating internal growth at the same time; inthe second place, because
the social and culturalcosts of an imitativedevelopmentare too highand
unethicalunderthe pressureof the crisis.Thiscrisisof directionality, how-
ever, is not resolvedthroughderegulation. Onthe contrary,deregulationis
simplythe new versionof developmentwitha still-imitative modeland, for
the same reason,a specificdirectionality.
6. New political,economic,andtechnologicalconditionsmakeever-
moredifficultthe desiredconfluenceof individual projectsin a jointproject
forthe transformation of society.Theprogressivedemystification of socialist
experiences, the social disarticulation caused by the installationof repres-
sive politicalregimesandbywork-force recomposition, the substitutionof in-
surrectionaloptionsby arrangedor negotiatedsettlements inthe resolution
of politicalconflicts-these have takenthe mobilizing forceawayfromthe
idea of revolution. The proliferation of corporateinterests,the disintegration
of the traditional working-classimage,the fragmentation of identities,which
makes the unitaryimageof a "people"seem almostmetaphysical,the ac-
celeratinginformalization andthe proliferation of the mostvariedstrategies
of survival-all of these factorsweakenthe formulation of globalprojects
of structuralchange capableof motivating vast socialsectors.Once again,
however,crisis does not suppose the collapse but rathera challengeto
planning.The collapsewilloccurwhenthe crisisof projectsleads to a kind
of laziness disguisedas pragmatism,inwhichpoliticsis convertedintothe
mereadministration of crisis.Anunethicaland unaestheticalternative.
Amongthe alternativeproposalsand/orperceptionsthatattemptto
finda solutionto the crisisof modernization in LatinAmericawithoutidenti-
fying with the neoliberal program, itwould be fittingto mentionthe following:
1. The reappraisalof democracyforits intrinsicvalue and as an in-
dispensableframefordynamically joininga plurality of social interestsand
/ Postmodernism
Hopenhayn andNeoliberalism
105

demands. Politicaltheorycertainlyoffersdiverseconceptionsof democ-


racy. But faced withthe growingcomplexityof the social fabricand the
consequentcrisisof authority, the kindof democracypositedas desirable
is one based on extensivesocial agreement.16 Such an agreementis con-
ceivedas a platform forresolvingconflictsbetweensectorswitha minimum
of coercionand for articulating in the most harmoniousway the relations
between the state and civilsociety,the technicaland politicaldimensions
of development,planningand the market,the microand the macro,and
the local and the national.A democracywitharticulatory capacitywould
the
permit optimization of levels of social the
participation, decentralization
of decision-makingprocesses, the apportionment of resourcesamongthe
variousagents of development,andthe equitabledistribution of the bene-
fitsof growth.Finally,a democracyfoundedon socialagreementis the most
appropriate meansforencouraginga cultureof civiccoexistencethatcould
conceive projectswithsocial legitimacy.
2. The reorientation of planningin tune withthe new scenarios of
social crisis and complexity.This supposes the relativization of mecha-
nistic paradigmsand requiresworkingwithgrowinglevels of uncertainty
aboutthe future,open outcomesandongoing,continuingadjustments,the
activationand coordination of dispersedsocial energies,fieldsof multiple
interaction,and mechanismsof cohesionthatcan articulatesocial projects
withouthomogenizing.
3. The change of perceptionand attitudeof social scientists in the
face of reality.Inthe decade of the sixties,the analyticalexercise of soci-
ologywas, ingood measure,determinedbythe ideaof a "militant science"
that was identifiedwitha modelof the state and social organizationthat
projectedan extremenormativism in questionsof the styles of develop-
ment.At present,a considerablenumberof social scientistsin the region
have opted forgreaterdisciplinary fromwhichthey seek to com-
humility,
the of
prehend complexity dynamics that are createdbetweenthe multiple
social actors.Ina sense, the riskof globalprojectshas been substitutedby
the "prudent" observationof intrasocietal articulations.17

16. Thereis muchliteraturethatpointsinthis direction.The followingexamples are note-


worthy:NorbertLechner,La conflictivay nunca acabada construcci6ndel orden de-
seado (Santiago:EdicionesAinavillo,FLACSO,1984);AngelFlisfisch,"Consensodemo-
in Lechner,Culturapoliticay democratizaci6n,99-128;
craticoen el Chile autoritario,"
NorbertLechner(comp.),Estadoy politicaen Am6ricaLatina(Mexico:Siglo XXI,1981),
and GinoGermaniet al., Los limitesde la democracia(BuenosAires:CLACSO,1985).
17. The influenceof AlainTouraineis well knownin this tendencyin LatinAmerica.Tou-
2 / Fall1993
106 boundary

4. The reappraisalof social movementsabove politicalpartiesas


protagonistsinthe rearticulationbetweencivilsocietyandthe state.18Such
an optionfollowsfrom,ingood measure,the relativeincapacityof the tradi-
tionalsystem of politicalpartiesto fulfillthe functionof mediationbetween
social demands and the state apparatus.The crisis of the partysystem
has given place to a searchfornew formsof doingpolitics,or at least the
of politicalpractices.Inthatcontext,social movementsap-
diversification
pear to be the bearersof new or differentlogics of collectiveinterests,in
contrastto the hierarchicaluniformitythatcharacterizespartyorganization.
The reappraisalof social movementsalso aims to recoverthe richnessof
the socialfabricas opposedto a statethathas seldomtakenitintoaccount.
5. The emergence of new social movements,or grass-rootorga-
nizations,or "populareconomicorganizations," and the enthusiasmthat
of initiativesawakens in some academiciansand politi-
this proliferation
cians disenchantedwithconventionalapproachesto development.19 These
new social movements,as sociologistshavetakento callingthem,occupy
sectors of informalitythat develop at the community,or local, level, and
they are organized around collectivestrategiesof survivalor new formsof
channeling demands. In practice,they combinediversefunctions,such as
the administrationof scarcity,the mobilization of dispersedsocialenergies,
the de-hierarchization of productionrelations,the constructionof collec-

raineposits thatthe reorientationof sociologytowardthe comprehensionof social actors


coincides withthe politicalreappraisalof democracy.See his Le Retourde I'acteur(Paris:
Fayard,1984).
18. See, forexample,ElizabethJelin(comp.),Movimientossociales y democraciaemer-
gente (Buenos Aires:Centro Editorde Am6ricaLatina,1987); AlainTouraine,Nuevas
pautas de acci6n colectiva en Am6ricaLatina(Santiago:PREALC,1984); Fernando
Calder6n (comp.), Los movimientossociales ante la crisis (Buenos Aires: CLACSO,
1986); FernandoCalder6nand MarioR. dos Santos, "Movimientos sociales y gestaci6n
de culturapolitica:Pautas de interogaci6n,"in Lechner,Culturapolitica y democratiza-
ci6n, 189-98; and Enzo Faletto,"Propuestasparael cambio:Movimientossociales en la
democracia,"in Revista Nueva Sociedad 91 (1987): 141-47.
19. For example, see TilmanEvers, "Identidade: A face oculta dos novos movimentos
sociais," in Novos Estudos CEBRAP(1984), 11-15; Jose Luis Castagnola, Participa-
ci6n y movimientossociales (Montevideo:Cuadernosde CLAEH 39, 1986); LuisRazeto,
Economia de solidaridady mercado democratico,two vols. (Santiago:Programade
Economiadel Trabajo,1984-1985); LuisRazeto et al., Las organizacionesecon6micas
populares (Santiago:Programade Economiadel Trabajo,1983);DevelopmentDialogue,
Special issue (Dec. 1986); and MartinHopenhayn,"Nuevosenfoques sobre el sector
informal," PensamientoIberoamericano12 (July-Dec.1987):423-28.
/ Postmodernism
Hopenhayn andNeoliberalism107

tive identity,the socializedprovisionof basic necessities, the promotion


of communityparticipation, andthe searchfordemocracyin smallspaces
(or democracyin dailylife). It is not easy to weighthe capacityof these
movementsto permeatethe socialfabricandto influencethe technicaland
politicalleadership.Theiremergence,however,positsa challenge,namely,
to recuperatepopularcreativityand impelnew "cultures" of development.
The postmoderndebatecan be fruitful inthe sense thatitpermits,in
general,the articulation of the culturaldimensionof development.Itsview
of modernityallowsus to interpret the crisisof styles of modernization as
a culturalcrisis.Withthis, new lightis shed on the obscuritythatpresently
envelops economicstrategiesand the policiesof financialadjustmentor
control,andthe discussionof policiesandstrategiesis providedwitha more
comprehensivecontextfromwhichitis possibleto articulateimmediateop-
tions in the operationof nationalprojectsor concreteutopias.The return
to the culturaldimensionof developmentpermitsthe re-creationof hori-
zons that infusepoliticsand policieswitha mobilizing forcethatconvenes
and commitssocial actors.The celebrationof the new social movements
shows a concernforthe constitution of collectiveidentities,be they regional
or sectorial.The preferencefor social movements,as opposed to politi-
cal parties,privilegesnew logics of social dynamism,the search for new
formsof doingpolitics,and an ad hoc groundingof the exaltationof diver-
sity.The reappraisalof democracyandpluralism pointsto the consolidation
of a democraticcultureand not only a majority-elected government.The
reorientation of planningputsin placea changeinthe paradigmsof the in-
terpretation and predictionof reality,andrequiresa revolution in perceptual
structures, as wellas in plans and programs. The reorientation of the social
sciences also impliesa changeinthe formof comprehending social reality,
startingfromthe verification of the progressivecomplexity,increasingdis-
articulation, and polymorphism of the social fabric.Inall of these formsof
"groping in the dark," the tension between instrumental and substantive
reason, or between means and ends, is once again at issue. Is this not,
perhaps,one of the greatestculturaldilemmasof modernity? As we noted
at the beginning,the postmoderndebatemaywellbe an attemptto remove
the culturalbase on whichthe roadto modernization in LatinAmericahas
been constructed,be itsuccessfulorfrustrated, open truncated.Butthis
or
does not necessarilyimplythatthe inventionof utopiasand the design of
projectshas to be renounced,norpoliticslimitedto lazinessandthe cynical
administration of crisis.Nordoes it meanthatneoliberalism has to be em-
braced. On the contrary,it is throughthe thematic insistence on the cultural
2 / Fall1993
108 boundary

foundationof modernization thatwe can breakwiththe neoliberalvicious


circleand withshortsightedcompulsion,oftendisguisedas pragmatism.
Postmodernismrequiresthat we open our perceptionto new con-
texts. Ourbatteryof interpretive toolscannotremainunchangedfaced with
phenomenasuch as the accelerationof technologicalchange,occupational
recomposition,the deregulationof the financialsystem, the transnation-
alizationof culturethat accompaniesthe globalizationof markets,social
disarticulation,and the constrictionof resourcesand marginsof operation.
Specifically,the challengeconsistsof enrichingmanyof the conceptsthat,
fora longtime,permittedus to criticallyrelateourselvesto modernity, with
the aim of restoringtheirlost efficacy.The refunctioning of such concepts
in the lightof new times can lend greatassistance for understanding our
contextandorientingourtask. Iam referring to concepts,orvalues,such as
alienation,the satisfactionof socialneeds, structural change,social partici-
pation,personaldevelopment, social subjectivity, emancipationfrom
and
povertyand politicaloppression.None of these provesto be irrelevantor
arbitrary today.
Inthe same way, it wouldnot be sensibleto renouncethe interpre-
tive and predictiverichnessof a structural focus on peripheralcapitalism.
Thisfocus has permitted,in the past,the exerciseof a notablecriticaland
constructivecapacitywithrespectto the styles of modernization implanted
in LatinAmericaand continuesto encourageorientationsand alternatives
in the present.20Manyof its suspicionsandwarningsregardingthe models
of developmentin forcecontinueto be confirmed: the regressivetendency
of the terms of exchange, the dynamicinsufficiencyof accumulationin
peripheralcapitalism,the difficultiesof reconcilinggrowthand equity,and
structuralheterogeneity,et cetera.21Moreover, we do not possess another
interpretive focus of a
capable giving specific sense of totalityand coher-
ence to the heterogeneitycharacteristic of the processes of modernization
in LatinAmerica.Nevertheless,thisfocus cannotbe takenas prescriptive.
Its openingto the alreadymentionedproblematicof social complexityor
progressiveuncertaintynecessitates a criticalrevisionof the mechanistic
paradigmwithwhichit usuallyoperates.

20. Forexample,see the recentworksof OsvaldoSunkel,such as "Lasrelacionescentro-


PensamientoIberoamericano11 (Jan.-June 1987).
periferiay la transnacionalizaci6n,"
21. Inthe extensive bibliographyof RaulPrebisch,the followingtexts deserve to be cited
here: "Estructura econ6micay crisisdel sistema,"Revistade la CEPAL(1978):167-264,
and the book Capitalismoperif6rico:Crisisy transformaci6n(Mexico:Fondode Cultura
Econ6mica,1981).
and Neoliberalism109
Hopenhayn/ Postmodernism

In summary, the question we are considering here can be posed in


the following terms: How can the postmodern debate be incorporatedin
order to reactivate the culturalbase of development, without it leading to
the postmodernism functionallyinherent in the project of political-cultural
hegemony of neoliberalism? How do we creatively confront our crisis of
paradigms and projects, withoutthis confrontationsubmerging us in a twi-
light "pathos"where the only option is the administrationof entropy, the
uncriticalacceptance of a status quo that is criticalof itself? How do we re-
interpretthe challenges of planning,the role of the state, and the program,
or programs, of modernizationin lightof this inevitableculturalearthquake
announced by the postmodern trumpets? How can we integrate the cri-
tique of ethnocentrism (and along with it, the critiqueof imitativemodels of
development) withoutleading to fantasies, fundamentalisms,regionalisms,
particularisms,or other forms of wishfulthinking?
The challenges and problems that are presented are very complex
and can stimulate impotence as well as creativity.The multifaceted and
structuralcharacter of the crisis situates us before a moment of maximum
entropy that is, in turn, a moment of intensity. That is our weakness, but
also our strength. Inthe throes of this dilemma, we go from enthusiasm to
desperation, postmoderns by osmosis in the midst of a still-pendingmod-
ernization.

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