Indo-American and Popular Education of José Carlos Mariátegui

Abstract

This article proposes an approach to the reflections of José Carlos Mariátegui on three topics that cut across the problem of public education in Peru in the 1920s, namely, the colonial spirit of education, class teaching and the revolutionary sensitivity of the figure of the teacher. Emphasising these aspects invites us to understand the thinking of a 20th century Latin American Marxist, José Carlos Mariátegui, who defended a political project of indigenous and popular education and whose main concerns included the structural modification of the public education system and a commitment to popular education for the children of the working class and the exploited sectors of Peruvian society. The originality of his revolutionary thinking is still valid for those who fan the flames of rebellion in the attempt to build emancipatory projects from and for Nuestramerica.