DR Ramón Grosfoguel
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Ramón Grosfoguel is a Puerto Rican sociologist known for his work on colonialism, global power structures, and decolonial theory. Does anyone here know him or have opinions about his ideas? Some parts of his work seem inconsistent or based on half-truths.
This professor talks about transhumanism, saying that the people at Davos want to eliminate more than half of the world’s population and create a system even worse than capitalism. He also claims that the last stronghold of the United States will be in Latin America and that all left-wing movements should support Venezuela, etc.
Never heard of him. But why mention him here?
Couldn’t see any mention of transhumanism or depopulation conspiracy theories on the academic profiles – do you have reliable sources for these?
Lots of academics in the US are being targetted by far right, Zionist, or Christian fundamentalists right now.
Well… why even mention it here?
This forum talks about many topics, and it seems you have a limited mindset about what can or cannot be said!
Transhumanism is something he himself talks about in his conferences and speeches.Ramón Grosfoguel has spoken about transhumanism in several interviews, especially in political or activist settings rather than in his academic work. One example is an interview titled “No se puede ser decolonial sin ser antiimperialista,” published on Aporrea.org, where he claims that global elites linked to the World Economic Forum are promoting what he calls a “New Reset,” including population reduction and the “robotization” of human beings through transhumanist technologies. He also mentions these ideas in recent conference announcements where topics such as technofeudalism, transhumanism, and ecomalthusianism are listed. If anyone in this forum has more sources or has followed his statements on this topic, I would appreciate additional references.
I have not read any of his works, I have read reviews about his works, and interviews given to him, and I do not think he is a new kid in the block, he is repeating what other nationalists and left wingers have already said but I have read Frantz Fanon works who is one of the founder of the so called decolonization movement, ethnic, and black nationalism similar to Malcom X, and other bourgeois nationalists and separatists, and ethnicity movements in the third world or global south
The Marxist Humanists also support the works and conception of Franz Fanon, and the ethnicity movement, his ideas are not new either in the frame of ethnic struggle ,
Classic colonialism was replaced by capitalism ( and capitalism produces more surplus value than classic colonialism ) and some colonial empires gave independence to several countries and some became independent but the exploitation of the native population was not eliminated, and some military dictators became presidents which they call progressive and anti imperialist leaders, and some dictators called themselves socialist too, but they only established state capitalist production.
Grosfoquel does not mention that, or he has not knowledge about the history of state capitalism and the fallacy of socialism in one country and in backward economic, as other leftwing he confuses state capitalism with socialism, he supports the Palestinian movement but as other left-wingers he does not mention that the Israeli are also part of the working class and they are exploited by a ruling class like the Palestinian and other workers in the Arab world
Dr Gerald Horne has similar racial point of view , he is the one who has considered that the US revolution was a counter revolution and that black slaves were exploited due to their colour of their skin , some trotskyist groups rejected that point of view because they have considered that the American revolutuon was a people’s revolution and a progressive constitution was established , the SLP of America supported the american constitution, and they supported the independence of Puerto Rico
The reality is that the declaration of independence of the USA was the birth of US capitalism and blacks, indians and poor white were left out of the constitution, in some way Gerald Horne is correct, but his racial point of view is not correct, we are going to liberate ourselves as humans but no based on races, religion, or ethnic origin
I have read Carlos Mariategui from Peru who advocated for a Latin American marxism ( another form of local socialism ) based on the Indigenous peoples, and the indigenous movement that existed in Bolivia during the government of Evo Morales was based on the works of Mariatequi, but in the last election that movement was rejected by the voters and the elected government is already in crisis after two months of its election, the indigenous peoples continued living in poverty, attacked by the police and the military, and the commune and cooperatives did not provide a better standard of living
Hugo Chavez advocated similar point of view and he made a call for the formation of a Latin American front and the creation of the new Great Colombian, and he called himself a nationalist socialist, and call for the reading of Marx, Lenin, Gramsci, Trotsky and Mao, ( A Gumbo soup ) but later on they rejected Marx when a letter written by Marx against Simon Bolivar was published saying that he was the Latin American Napoleon, and the honeymoon was over, they even said that Marx did not know anything about colonialism, but Marx wrote several articles about colonialism. Marx and Engels did write about colonialism and the soviets compiled into one pamphlet
The followers of socialism of the XXI century created their own banks, their own commercial and financial cartel but the exploitation of the indigenous peoples continued like in the old days of the colonial period, and the coops and communes were run like capitalist enterprise to produce profits but they wanted to ‘decolonize” Latin America from the influence of the Yankees, but in reality one sector of the Latin American capitalist class wanted to create its own market system to liberate itself from American capitalism, but they made alliance with the reactionary government of Iran
https://archive.org/details/marxengelsoncolonialism.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/subject/england/colonialism.htm. Marx and Engels works on Colonialism
https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Marx-Engels-colonialism-Karl-Friedrich-1818-1883/31217388879/bd
The indigenous peoples from /North/South America separated themselves from Spain, France and Portugal, but they are still exploited and discriminated, but now they blame everything in the so-called Empire which is a term used by the Cuban state capitalists despite the fact that they were a colony of the Soviet empire , or what the Chinese called the soviet social imperialism, but they have subscribed themselves to the tactic of the anti imperialism a call for the working class to make alliance with their own rulers . That movement will not bring liberation to anybody, just to the national bourgeoisie
There has never existed a monopolar world as they claim, there are have always existed a multipolar world, and in Latin American the Russian and Chinese are in alliance with the local capitalists of the region and they are part of the multipolar world, and they are extracting minerals and others resources like the yankees were doing, there is not difference and they do not even mention that china and russia are capitalist exploiters
Their ideas are mostly based on the concept that European colonialism and oppression of the slaves is based on the color of their skins or the so called black race, indians, instead of the natural consequences of the emergence of capitalism and the accumulation of capital which created the condition for the development of capitalism, that process also took take in Europe and the peasants were expropriated from their properties and possessions
Marx and Engels never described colonialism as a racial problem, but as a consequences of the development of capitalism and class society
Human beings have been economically exploited due to their social class conditions as members of the working class, white peoples have also been exploited by their own ruling class and the same case is in Asia and Australia, in south africa black and white have been exploited too
In the case of Puerto Rico he has a different view in regard to the Independentista movement, he does not support the separation of Puerto Rico and the USA and the formation of a capitalist republic, he advocates for the statehood of Puerto Rico which is different to the point of view of Ruben Berrios, and Mari Grass who called himself a socialist but he was a nationalist,( by decree he became a Puerto Rican ) and founder of the Socialist Party of Puerto Rico
Grosfoquel has indicated that during the cold war period Puerto Rico was able to have a industrialized status and was able to obtain certain social benefits, civil rights and equal protection under the law, and after the post war that status has declined drastically because industries were exported toward China and Vietnam and the US government removed many social benefits
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/02/24/deco-f24.html. Main conception of that movement
https://imhojournal.org/articles/frantz-fanon-in-the-present-movement/. Franz Fanon
Grosfoquel has several academic degrees but it is not a guarantee that he is on the correct path, he has not said anything new that other nationalist have not said already, The decolonization of education is not a new movement either. as the historian Frank Jennings said, that there are not several civilizations, there is only one . The type of education that they propose has also been influenced by the ruling class, in the case of Latin America, the Aztecs and the Inka were exploited too, and one of the reason why some colonialist won the battle was because the indigenous peoples took side with them due to their own exploitation, like in the USA the blacks slave supported the British and the French colonialists against the American colonists
PS In this forum we have the freedom to express our own ideas and publish different types of communication, even Nazis have the freedom to publish their own ideas . He has also spoken about a Neo-Malthusian movement conducted by the ruling class around the whole world, but I do not think he has a clear view of how capitalism operates, he calls it eco-fascsim, that tendency of capitalism has nothing to do with fascism
Thank you for respecting free expression and open debate. One of the things I value most about this forum is that we can exchange ideas honestly, without attacking one another, even when our views differ. I’ve always appreciated the SPGB perspective, and I’m genuinely interested in hearing what you all think.
“Citizen of the World” is one of the members I admire most here. I’ve learned a great deal from his reviews and insightful comments, and I want to express my appreciation for the clarity and consistency he brings to discussions.
As Karl Marx wrote, “The free development of each is the condition for the free development of all.” I believe this forum embodies that principle by allowing ideas to be shared openly and critically.
Thanks again for maintaining a space where thoughtful discussion is possible.
In the case of Puerto Rico’s industrialisation, he is correct because the USA applied a different economic conception there, different from that of other Latin American countries, where agricultural production was kept, and industrial production was at a secondary level, which is why the concept of Banana Republic was created.
Puerto Rico is a capitalist territory of the USA, it is not the classical colony as the independentistas are claiming, and it has its own oligarchy, during the 60-70 it became a center of exportation of manufactured goods toward the USA and other countries in Latin America including clothings, canned foods, vaccines, medications, medical and surgical devices and a strong tourism industry.
In some way, the USA has a type of blockade against Puerto Rico because the island must use a US shipping company to receive merchandise, and it depends on the importation of goods and commodities, which is not what the US rulers have propagated. They have produced an enormous amount of surplus value for the local oligarchy and for the US ruling class
That is the reason why Grosfoquelhas claimed that statehood is a much better solution than independence, but it does not mean that he is a pitiyanki, it is almost the same situation as the Palestinian and the creation of a Palestinian state, but for a real socialist, the best solution would be a stateless society
In Puerto Rico, the USA made enormous industrial investments, and it became an industrial powerhouse which exceed several countries in Latin America and the standard of living was higher and several reforms of the New Deal were applied to Puerto Rico but the agriculture production was enormously eliminated, and real estate took a great chunk of the lands, and many peasants migrated toward the USA to join the boom of the textile industry and the salary were higher, and that produced a large emigration of Puerto Rico toward NY.
Puerto Rico also became a US military base, and an enormous military base which was built and used as a strategic location for invasions of Latin American countries, to extinguish worker revolts, and to prevent the expansion of Soviet state capitalism in the region. It was part of the struggle of the Cold War period
The industrial investment was produced by tax incentives; some American corporations had free taxation for several years, for pharmaceuticals, electronics production, cars, textiles, but still the salaries were lower than in the USA Then came a period of stagnation and dependency
The historical analysis he presented about Puerto Rico was truly insightful, especially the way he explained the island’s industrial development. It helped me understand why the so-called “liberation movement” has not succeeded in Puerto Rico. As long as global capitalism exists, we remain wage slaves; but within the current context, I can also understand why he argues that statehood would be more favorable for the people of the island.
I had never heard of him before. After listening to his talk on Puerto Rico’s “colonial question,” I began to investigate further. I found many points in his analyses that made sense to me, but I also saw the typical tendency of many Latin American nationalists: focusing exclusively on “American imperialism” while overlooking the role of local capitalists. In addition, he speaks of Maduro, Cuba, and similar cases without offering any critical evaluation.
I feel something similar when I listen to Richard Wolff. I appreciate many of his economic analyses, but then he expresses sympathy for regimes like China and even sees it as “socialist,” when your organization—an assessment I fully agree with—has correctly explained that these systems are simply forms of state capitalism.
Thank you again, Citizen of the World. Your identification is consistent with everything I have observed so far. Here in the United States, I often speak to my coworkers about your party, because—as you say, and as I have seen in my own experience—it is the only socialist party that fights for socialism, and nothing else.
“This forum talks about many topics, and it seems you have a limited mindset about what can or cannot be said!”
Sorry, I think you misread the tone here. The “why” was meant as an enquiry into if there was some reason for him currently coming into public significance or something like that. A request for more information.
Talk about what you like you don’t need anyone’s blessing for that…
Roberto
I came across this, if it is any help…
https://www.dialogoglobal.com/texts/grosfoguel/Grosfoguel-Decolonizing-Pol-Econ-and-Postcolonial.pdf
Isn’t he supposed to be a critic of both neoliberal globalisation and nationalist fundamentalism? It is depressing the extent to which the Left is infested with nationalist (that is, capitalist) ideology
Nationalism and socialism are two concepts that can not be mixed and are incompatible; on the contrary, nationalism is one of the enemies of socialism, and it is a mental poison for the working class. Since the emergence of the Bolsheviks, socialism has become a nationalist movement.
The case of Juan Mari Bras, founder of the Socialist Party of Puerto Rico, about Puerto Rican citizenship.
It is the same case with several singers and artists from Puerto Rico who have obtained dual citizenship from Cuba and the Dominican Republic. The government of Donald Trump is going to eliminate dual or triple citizenship.
The Puerto Rican independence movement is a typical bourgeois nationalist movement, and most of them support the Cuban state capitalism as their economic model, which is also a society based on economic exploitation and wage slavery. Do they know? Probably not. They should read the articles and pamphlets that have been published by the Socialist Party. The WSM is unique
Many of the leaders are intellectuals who have studied at Harvard University.
This is another intellectual who studied at Harvard University, and he is the leader of the Partido Independentista de Puerto Rico.
He has a different point of view, and he is also part of the decolonisation movement; they are still living in the past. Classical colonisation was replaced by the capitalist mode of production, and every country in Latin America has its own oligarchy that is also exploiting the working class; it is the same case in Palestine and Israel.
He advocates for the separation of Puerto Rico from the USA. He does not advocate for statehood.
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Isn’t he supposed to be a critic of both neoliberal globalisation and nationalist fundamentalism? It is depressing the extent to which the Left is infested with nationalist (that is, capitalist) ideology.
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Most of them do not even know what Liberalism really is, and they follow the same old rancid conception about neo liberalism, which should be called Monetarism, as an article from the Socialist Party has explained in the case of Chile,( and Milton Freidman ) and that the so-called death of neoliberalism, the opposite is the death of state capitalism, or regulated capitalism.They have written thousands of books and articles about the same topics ( including Noam Chomsky and Naomi Klein ), but they never analyse the real conception, and the root of the problem, which is capitalism and the main distinction of capitalism is not private property only, it is wage slavery too.
In the soviet union, there was no private property in the traditional sense, but it was a society based on wage slavery and economic exploitation.
All of them should attend the SPGB summer school, as one member of the Jamaican group did; it was the only group that had a socialist foundation in Latin America. The whole movement ( if there is one ) needs a political exorcism, and the populist right-wingers are using their failures to obtain the votes of the working class, like in Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia
Most of those nationalist groups disguised as socialist have a sad history because their leaders or members were killed by the repressive forces of the state, they were fighting against a stronger force, and most workers did not support their movements ( like the case of Che Guevara in Bolivia ), and some were integrated by university students with romantic political views and lackness of real marxist foundations
PS: The University of Puerto Rico was founded by Harvard University, and its curriculum in Science and Engineering was
At the same level as Harvard, its curriculum on Humanities, Sociology, Economics, History, and political science was above Harvard, and the best progressive professors from different parts of the world were hired by the university, including European teachers ( Catedraticos )Many students from different countries in Latin America were students at the Rio Piedras and Mayaguez campuses ( Engineering and Agronomy ). During the government of Lyndon B Johnson ( who was a school teacher at Tolluca in Texas, a Mexican-American poor neighbourhood), there was a large investment in public education, arts and natural sciences, but he supported the invasion of the Dominican Republics looking for a phantom known as communism in a society based on Agriculture and peasantry, it was the same case of Chile .
Ramon Grosfugel is a clear example of what Richard Wolff has said: that he attended Harvard and Yale universities, and he never learned anything about economics until he studied and read Marx’s Capital. And despite that, he has distorted the real concept of socialism/communism, and he has separated them like Lenin.
Academic education is not a guarantee of following the correct political path, and the whole educational system prepares human beings to become wage slaves with technical knowledge; and the so-called middle class is just a capitalist fallacy.
The Trotskyists are saying that Populism is a product of the middle class; they are also living in the past when Populism existed in Russia, and Lenin called them the petite bourgeoisie. This is a new type of populism which has large support from the wealthy capitalist class
This forum talks about many topics, and it seems you have a limited mindset about what can or cannot be said!”
Sorry, I think you misread the tone here. The “why” was meant as an enquiry into if there was some reason for him currently coming into public significance or something like that. A request for more information.
Talk about what you like you don’t need anyone’s blessing for that…
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Grosfoquel is on public view, he has several videos on You tube, he has given conference in the Middle East, he has written several books and articles, he is part of the Puerto Rican liberation movement, he has tree Facebook websites, and he is a member of the WSM ( MSM ) website
It is the same old leftwing things about fascism, Neo fascism, liberalism, Neo liberalism. nationalism, patriotism and the empire,( in a multi polar world ) but without analyzing the real root of the problem which is capitalism, and blessing state capitalism
Groups defending the so called Ukrainian liberation and Zelensky the liberator, another groups defending Putin the liberator, another one defending the Palestinian liberator and Hamas and forgetting that the Hebrews are members of the working class, and another groups defending African militaries dictators called liberators and socialists.
They blame everything on the empire, but Russia and China are not capitalists states, and they are not looking for world domination, the capitalist development of china of china is a product of socialism, and the Chinese state is socialist and the economic is capitalists, defending the Cuban and Venezuelan socialism, blessing their leaders and asking workers to bleed blood defending the homeland It is a Gumbo soup
They have a new term known as Post fascism, the old stalinists/trotskyists definition is not working.
It is a scary tactic used when a populist right-winger is winning an election, because populism is a product of the middle class according to the Stalinists, Trotskyists and Leninists. Their class analysis is completely wrong
In Chile they used the concept of pos fascism, and then they had to make alliance with the so called post fascist, and the medication is worst than the disease, the congress is controlled by the right wingers, they only elect a puppet using a coalition of ‘socialists’ and ‘communists” .
They are repeating the same mistake for the next election, the communist candidate is running a campaign against illegal immigration like Donald Trump, creating more division among the working class . Blame it on the workers !!!
They run a political campaign for the feminists, and its candidate was called the president of the women, and when women went to the streets to protest, the person in charge of the millitary and the police was a woman that is member of the communist party and she sent the police to beat them up.
Our beautiful minister, minister of the capitalist state, to manage the affairs of the capitalist class
They are running a campaign for better pensions and the capitalists are reducing taxation, and they do not know that pensions is deferred salary and a continuation of the class struggle
They have written many books and you can put them in a blender and you will obtain the same substance
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