Marta Harnecker (1937 – 14 June 2019) was a Chilean

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, author,

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

, sociologist, and

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

intellectual. She studied the analysis of

labor movements The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

and acted as an advisor to the government of

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, and worked with left-wing political movements within

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. She was active in the government of

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...

between 1970 and 1973, and provided advice to

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...

between 2004 and 2011.

Biography

Marta Harnecker was born in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

in 1937. Her family had Austrian roots. She studied psychology at the

Catholic University of Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile; ) is a traditional private university based in Santiago, Chile. It is one of the thirteen Catholic universities existing in Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical univers ...

in 1962, and did postgraduate studies in Paris with

Paul Ricoeur Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

and

Louis Althusser Louis Pierre Althusser (, ; ; 16 October 1918 – 22 October 1990) was a French Marxist philosopher who studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he eventually became Professor of Philosophy. Althusser was a long-time member an ...

. Upon her return to Chile in 1968, she taught Historical Materialism and Political Economy in Sociology at the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

and was director of the political magazine ''Chile Hoy''. In 1968, Harnecker joined the

Socialist Party of Chile The Socialist Party of Chile (, or PS) is a centre-left to Left-wing politics, left-wing political party founded in 1933. Its historic leader was President of Chile Salvador Allende, who was deposed in a 1973 Chilean coup d'état, coup d'état by ...

. She worked as a journalist in Chile during the

's presidency. Following the

1973 Chilean coup d'etat Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

against Allende, she was forced into

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

and lived in

until the death of her first husband, Manuel Piñeiro. While living in Cuba, Harnecker founded the research institute ''Memoria Popular Latinoamerica'' (MEPLA) and continued to write. After her time in Cuba, she provided advice to

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

n president

. In 2004, she married Canadian economist Michael A. Lebowitz. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' described her as "one of the most influential Marxist theorists in the Latin American left". Harnecker died from cancer on June 14, 2019.

Publications

Harnecker wrote over 80 books, including ''The Basic Concepts of Historical Materialism'' and ''The Left after Seattle''.

Jorge G. Castañeda Jorge is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name George. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese . It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios' ...

wrote that ''The Basic Concepts of Historical Materialism'' "had far-reaching impact. The condensed, synthetic and accessible Marxist textbook was essential reading for university students during the 1970s and early 1980s. It has since sold nearly one million copies in Spanish and Portuguese, and is considered one of the best-selling non-fiction books ever published in Latin America". Her more recent books, including ''Hugo Chavez Frias: Un hombre, un pueblo'', ''Venezuela: Militares junto al pueblo'', and ''Venezuela: una revolución sui generis'', reflected her support of the

Bolivarian revolution The Bolivarian Revolution is a social revolution and ongoing political process in Venezuela that was started by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela ...

. On 15 August 2014, Harnecker accepted the 2013 Liberator's Prize for Critical Thought for her book ''A World To Build'', which was published in English in January 2015.

Selected works

*Harnecker, Marta (2015): ''A World to Build'', Monthly Review Press. . *Harnecker, Marta (2010): ''Ideas for the Struggle'', Socialist Interventions Pamphlet Series. *Harnecker, Marta (1999): ''Haciendo posible lo imposible: La izquierda en el umbral del siglo XXI'', Siglo Veintiuno Editores, 429 p.. *Harnecker, Marta (1990): ''América Latina, izquerda y crisis actual: Izquierda y crisis actual'', Siglo Veintiuno Editores, 305 p.. *Harnecker, Marta (1986): ''La Revolución Social: Lenin y América Latina'', Siglo Veintiuno Editores, 307 p..

References

External links

Marta Harnecker Archive
at marxists.org
Biografía de Marta Harnecker
en ''e-libro''. (Consultado el 17 August 2008)
Marta Harnecker en Aporrea
– Artículos de Marta Harnecker en Aporrea
Marta Harnecker en Talcualdigital
– Notas biográficas sobre la autora. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harnecker, Marta 1937 births 2019 deaths Chilean Marxists Chilean sociologists Chilean women sociologists Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni Academic staff of the University of Chile Chilean emigrants to Cuba Chilean people of Austrian descent Former Roman Catholics Deaths from cancer in British Columbia