Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations
El Pueblo and Its Problems: Democracy of, by, and for Whom?
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 2011
Abstract
In response to those calling for philosophical dialogue across the Americas, this paper considers the historical emergence of the concept of el pueblo (“the people”) as the subject and object of democracy. The first section makes a linguistic claim: the genuinely communal nature of “the people” clearly appears when considering el pueblo because it is unambiguously singular, grammatically speaking. The second section makes a historical claim: the microhistory of a largely indigenous pueblo in Mexico’s Yucatán enables us to begin unpacking the complex concrete, historical, and genealogical dimensions of el pueblo. The brief concluding section suggests that historically contextualizing and concretizing el pueblo provides conceptual support for some of the premises that underwrite Latin American philosophies of liberation, including that of Enrique Dussel.
Recommended Citation
Stehn, Alexander V. "El pueblo and Its Problems: Democracy of, by, and for Whom?." the pluralist 6.3 (2011): 103-116. https://doi.org/10.5406/pluralist.6.3.0103
Publication Title
The Pluralist
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5406/pluralist.6.3.0103
Comments
Copyright 2011 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois