The Dream of a Thing: Refounding the Economy of a Venezuelan Commune

The world has long had the dream of a thing of which it only needs to become conscious for it to possess in reality.

—Karl Marx to Arnold Ruge, 1843
 

Chris Gilbert

Probably the most famous saying of José Carlos Mariátegui, often seen as the founder of Latin American Marxism, is that, on our continent, socialism should be “not a copy or imitation but rather a heroic creation.” Chávez gave equal weight to the latter part, which focused on the construction of new social relations as a popular, constitutive act. He was surely right to do so. For what would socialism be if not an innovative creation of the people? Beyond the refusal to copy and imitate, Chávez saw that what was needed was a difficult but necessary collective effort of the masses that would involve their engaging in iterative experimentation—investigation, participation, and action—in building socialism.

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