Adiós a la dependencia… ¿y adiós a la liberación? Despedidas explícitas e implícitas de un intelectual anti liberacionista.

Abstract

This work explores the meaning of the article by José Luis de Ímaz (1974), “Goodbye to Dependency Theory? A Perspective from Argentina,” interpreting it as a political intervention within the intellectual context of its time of publication. Starting from a brief characterization of the prior trajectory of its author, it first addresses the criticisms he directs at the supposed “excesses” of dependency theory. Through an analysis of the way these criticisms are formulated, and of the conclusions derived from them (which include a reformulation of the concept of dependency), it is revealed that their deeper target is not theoretical dependencyism, but rather the political liberationism that it supports. This interpretation is then confirmed through a compa
rison between De Ímaz’s diagnosis of Argentina’s economic situation in 1974 and that of the then Peronist government. On this basis, it is concluded that the article draws on the historical context of increasing repression of political projects oriented toward “liberation” (regardless of how it was understood), with the aim of legitimizing a post-liberationism aligned with the author’s ideology.