Dinerstein offers a much-needed review of the concept and practice of autonomy. She argues that defining autonomy as either revolutionary or ineffective vis-a-vis the state does not fully grasp the commitment of Latin American movements to the creation of alternative practices and horizons beyond capitalism. By establishing an elective affinity between autonomy and Bloch's principle of hope, the author defines autonomy as 'the art of organizing hope', that is, the art of shaping a reality which does not yet exist but can be anticipated by the movements' collective actions. Drawing from the experience of autonomous resistance of four prominent indigenous and non-indigenous urban and rural movements, Dinerstein suggests that the politics of autonomy produce an excess that cannot be translated into the grammar of power. This involves an engagement with a reality that is not yet and, therefore, counters value with hope. The book also offers a new critique of political economy, reading Marx's philosophy in key of hope, and emphasises the prefigurative features of autonomy at a time when utopia can no longer be objected.
Industry Reviews
'Terrific and necessary. An excellent and informative account of the wonderful movements of revolt in Latin America in recent years, but it is much more than that. Latin America is not just over there (over here in my case) but an inspiration and a challenge for all of us. Even more exciting than the title is the subtitle: The Art of Organising Hope. That is what we so desperately need, that is why the book is so important, and not just for those with a special interest in Latin America.' - John Holloway, Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, Mexico 'Ana Cecilia Dinerstein's book is a major intervention, which reframes these questions fundamentally and places the hopes, experiments, contradictions and possibilities of social movements centre-stage while recognising the specificity of Latin American and indigenous experiences. Clear and powerful, this work is badly needed.' - Laurence Cox, National University of Ireland Maynooth, Ireland 'The book is terrific. It is teeming with radical scholarship' - Mike Neary, University of Lincoln, UK 'What Ana Cecilia Dinerstein has done with this book is to demonstrate how the philosophy of Ernst Bloch cannot be said to exist in a purely abstract vacuum, as is often contended in western philosophical debate. She has pointed out here that the philosophy of hope, of the anticipated realisation of hope in social form, i.e. politically in the form of revolution and change, is central to his concerns and resonates in what were long seemed to be "peripheral" areas. It is no coincidence that Ernst Bloch's works have long been better known in Latin America than in the Anglo-Saxon world as his philosophy of hope bears a great deal of similarities with liberation theology in general. An essential part of his thought is that religion carries within it not only oppressive structures from above but also liberationist tendencies from below and that only when these active, creative tendencies meet up with the grinding realities of economic exploitation, then the likelihood is that some form of transformation will emerge. The strength of this book is to point out that this is an open process and that any movement towards social and political liberation is one which is only partially determined by these economic conditions - in the traditional Marxist sense - but is carried by the sense of hope and the pre-illuminations of what might be.' - Peter Thompson, University of Sheffield, UK
