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Footnotes for Chapter 4

1. Vladimir Lenin, "What is to be Done," in Essential Works of Lenin, Henry M. Christman, ed (New York, 1966), p. 69.

2. This danger further requires the revolutionary leaders to resist imitating the procedures of the oppressors, who "enter" the oppressed and are "housed" by the latter. The revolutionaries, in their praxis with the oppressed, cannot try to "reside" in the latter. On the contrary, when they try (with the oppressed) to "throw out" the oppressors, they do this in order to live with the oppressed - not to live within them.

3. Although the oppressed, who have always been subject to a regime of exploitation, may understandably impart a revanchist dimension to the revolutionary strug­gle, the revolution must not exhaust its forces in this dimension.

4. "While we might obtain some benefit from doubt," said Fidel Castro to the Cuban people as he confirmed the death of Guevara, "lies, fear of the truth, com­plicity with false illusions, and complicity with lies have never been weapons of the revolution." Quoted in Gramma. October 17, 1967. Emphasis added.

5. Once more, let me repeat that this dialogical encounter cannot take place between antagonists.

6. "The epochs during which the dominant classes are stable, epochs in which the workers' movement must defend itself against a powerful adversary which is occasionally threatening and is in every case solidly seated in power, produces naturally a socialist literature which emphasizes the 'material' element of reality, the obstacles to be overcome, and the scant efficacy of human awareness and action." Goldman, op. cit., pp. 80-81.

7. Fernando García, a Honduran, in a course for Latin Americans (Santiago, 1967).

8. Niebuhr, op. cit., pp. 117-118.

9. Sometimes this "word" is not even spoken. The presence of someone (not necessarily belonging to a revolutionary group) who can threaten the oppressor "housed" in the people is sufficient for the latter to assume destructive positions.

A student once told me how, in a certain Latin American peasant community, a fanatical priest had denounced the presence in the community of two "communists" who were "endangering" what he called the "Catholic faith." That very night the peasants, to a man, joined together to burn alive the two simple elementary school teachers who had been educating the local children. Perhaps that priest had seen in the house of the teachers a book with a bearded man on the cover...

10. Once more, I wish to emphasize that there is no dichotomy between dialogue and revolutionary action. There is not one stage for dialogue and another for revolu­tion. On the contrary, dialogue is the essence of revolutionary action. In the theory of this action, the actors intersubjectively direct their action upon an object (reality, which mediates them) with the humanization of men (to be achieved by trans­forming that reality) as their objective.

In the theory of oppressor action, antidialogical in essence, the above scheme is simplified. The actors have as simultaneous objects of their action both reality and the oppressed, and the preservation of oppression (through the preservation of oppressive reality) as their objective.

THEORY OF
REVOLUTIONARY ACTION
THEORY OF
OPPRESSIVE ACTION
Intersubjectivity
Subjects-Actors
(revolutionary leaders)
Actors-Subjects
(the oppressed)
Actors-Subjects
(dominant elite)
Interaction
Object which mediates
Reality to be transformed
Object which mediates
Object - the reality to be preserved
Object - the oppressed (as part of reality)
Objective
for Humanization as a permanent process
Objective
for Objective - the preservation of oppression

11. See Mao Tse Tung, op. cit.

12. Gajo Petrovic, "Man and Freedom," in Socialist Humanism, edited by Erich Fromm (New York, 1965), pp. 274-276. By the same author, see Marx in the Mid-Twentieth Century (New York, 1967).

13. Once a popular revolution has come to power, the fact that the new power has the ethical duty to repress any attempt to restore the old oppressive power by no means signifies that the revolution is contradicting its dialogical character. Dia­logue between the former oppressors and the oppressed as antagonistic classes was not possible before the revolution; it continues to be impossible afterward.

14. "Moreover, economically developed countries should take particular care lest, in giving aid to poorer countries, they endeavor to turn the prevailing political situation to their own advantage, and seek to dominate them.

Should perchance such attempts be made, this clearly would be but another form of colonialism which, although disguised in name, merely reflects their earlier but outdated dominion, now abandoned by many countries. When international relations are thus obstructed, the orderly progress of all peoples is endangered" Pope John XXIII, "Christianity and Social Progress," from the Encyclical Letter Mater et Magistra, articles 171 and 172.

15. Memmi refers to the image the colonizer constructs of the colonized: "By his accusation the colonizer establishes the colonized as being lazy. He decides that laziness is constitutional in the very nature of the colonized," Memmi, op. cit., p. 81.

16. It is not the media themselves which I criticize, but the way they are used.

17. This criticism of course does not apply to actions within a dialectical perspec­tive, based on the understanding of the local community both as a totality in itself and as part of a larger totality. It is directed at those who do not realize that the development of the local community cannot occur except in the total context of which it is a part, in interaction with other parts. This requirement implies the consciousness of unity in diversification, of organization which channels forces in dispersion, and a clear awareness of the necessity to transform reality. This (under­standably) is what frightens the oppressors.

18. Bishop Franic Split refers eloquently to this point: "If the workers do not become in some way the owners of their labor, all structural reforms will be ineffec­tive. [This is true] even if the workers receive a higher salary in an economic system but are not content with these raises. They want to be owners, not sellers, of their labor...At present the workers are increasingly aware that labor represents a part of the human person. A person, however cannot be bought; neither can he sell himself. Any purchase or sale of labor is a type of slavery. The evolution of human society in this respect is clearly progressing within a system said to be less responsive than our own to the question of human dignity, i.e., Marxism." "15 Obispos hablan en prol del Tercer Mundo." CIDOC Informa (Mexico, 1967), Doc. 67/35, pp. 1-11.

Translation (from Spanish): "15 Bishops speak at Third World Proliferation Conference"

19. With respect to social classes and the struggle between them (which Karl Marx is often accused of inventing), see Marx's letter to J. Weydemeyer dated March 1, 1852: "...no credit is due to me for discovering the existence of classes in modern society or the struggle between them. Long before me bourgeois historians had described the historical development of this class struggle and bourgeois econo­mists the economic anatomy of the classes. What I did that was new was to prove: (1) that the existence of classes is only bound up with particular historical phases in the development of production; (2) that the class struggle necessarily leads to the dictatorship of the proletariat; (3) that this dictatorship itself only constitutes the transition to the abolition of all classes and to classless society..." Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Selected Works (New York, 1968), p. 679.

20. For this reason it is indispensable for the oppressors to keep the peasants isolated from the urban workers, just as it is indispensable to keep both groups isolated from the students. The testimony of rebellion of the latter (although they do not sociologically constitute a class) makes them dangerous in the event they join the people. It is thus necessary to convince the lower classes that students are irresponsible and disorderly, that their testimony is false because as students they should be studying, just as the factory workers and the peasants should be working towards the "nation's progress."

21. Tiradentes was leader of an abortive revolt for the independence of Brazil from Portugal in 1789 in Ouro Preto, State of Minas Gerais. This movement is historically called the Inconfidência Mineira. - Translator's note.

22. Visconde de Barbacena, royal administrator of the province. - Translator's note.

23. Pacts are only valid for the masses (and in this case they are no longer pacts) when the objectives of the action in process or to be developed are subject to their decision.

24. In the "organization" which results from acts of manipulation, the people - mere guided objects - are adapted to the objectives of the manipulators. In true organization, the individuals are active in the organizing process, and the objectives of the organization are not imposed by others. In the first case, the organization is a means of "massification," in the second, a means of liberation. [In Brazilian political terminology, "massification" is the process of reducing the people to a manageable, unthinking agglomeration. - Translator]

25. Francisco Weffert, "Politica de massas," Política e revolução social no Brasil (Rio de Janeiro, 1967), p. 187.

Translation (from Portuguese): "Mass Politics," Politics and Social Revolution in Brazil

26. Getulio Vargas led the revolution which overthrew Brazilian President Washington Luis in 1930. He remained in power as a dictator until 1945. In 1950 he returned to power as elected president. In August 1954, when the opposition was about to overthrow him, he committed suicide. - Translator's note.

27. Speech given in Vasco da Gama Stadium on May 1, 1950, O Governo Trabalhista no Brasil (Rio), pp. 322-324.

Translation (from Portuguese): The Labor Government in Brazil

28. Ibid. Emphasis added.

29. To this end, the invaders are making increasing use of the social sciences and technology, and to some extent the physical sciences as well, to improve and refine their action. It is indispensable for the invaders to know the past and present of those invaded in order to discern the alternatives of the latter's future and thereby attempt to guide the evolution of that future along lines that will favor their own interests.

30. Young people increasingly view parent and teacher authoritarianism as inimical to their own freedom. For this very reason, they increasingly oppose forms of action which minimize their expressiveness and hinder their self-affirmation. This very positive phenomenon is not accidental. It is actually a symptom of the historical climate which (as mentioned in chapter 1) characterizes our epoch as an anthropological one. For this reason one cannot (unless he has a personal interest in doing so) see the youth rebellion as a mere example of the traditional differences between generations. Something deeper is involved here. Young people in their rebellion are denouncing and condemning the unjust model of a society of domination. This rebellion with its special dimension, however, is very recent; society continues to be authoritarian in character.

31. It perhaps also explains the antidialogical behavior of persons who, although convinced of their revolutionary commitment, continue to mistrust the people and fear communion with them. Unconsciously, such persons retain the oppressor within themselves; and because they "house" the master, they fear freedom.

32. See my "Extensão ou Comunicação?" in Introducción a la Acción Cultural (Santiago, 1969).

Translation (from Portuguese): "Extension and Communcation?"

33. Regarding the activities of this institution, see Mary Cole, Summer in the City (New York, 1968).

34. See Louis Althusser, Pour Marx (Paris, 1967), in which he dedicates an entire chapter to "la dialectique de la surdétermination."

Translation (from French): "the dialectic of overdetermination"

35. This process, however, does not occur suddenly, as mechanistic thinkers naïvely assume.

36. Althusser, op. cit.

37. On this matter, Althusser comments "Cette reactivation serait proprement inconcevable dans une dialectique depourvue de surdétermination" Althusser, op. cit., p. 116.

Translation (from French): "This reactivation would be inconceivable in a dialectic devoid of overdetermination"

38. The thoughts of Guevara on this subject are cited in the preceding chapter, German Guzman says of Camilo Torres: "...he gave everything. At all times he maintained a vital posture of commitment to the people - as a priest, as a Christian, and as a revolutionary." Translated from German Guzman, Camilo - El Cura Guerrillero (Bogatá 1967), p. 5.

39. "Class necessity" is one thing; "class consciousness" is another.

40. A Chilean priest of high intellectual and moral caliber visiting Recife in 1966 told me: "When a Pernambucan colleague and I went to see several families living in shanties [mocambos] in indescribable poverty, I asked them how they could bear to live like that, and the answer was always the same: 'What can I do? It is the will of God and I must accept it'."

41. On this point, see Erich Fromm, "The Application of Humanist Psychoanalysis to Marxist Theory," in Socialist Humanism (New York, 1966); and Reuben Osborn, Marxism and Psychoanalysis (London, 1965).

42. Che Guevara, The Secret Papers of a Revolutionary: The Diary of Che Guevara (The Ramparts Edition, 1968), pp. 105-106, 120.

43. See Martin Buber, I and Thou (New York, 1958).

44. Guevara to El Patojo, a young Guatemalan leaving Cuba to engage in guerrilla activity in his own country: "Mistrust: at the beginning, do not trust your own shadow; never trust friendly peasants, informers, guides, or contact men. Do not trust anything or anybody until a zone is completely liberated." Che Guevara, Episodes of the Revolutionary War (New York, 1968), p. 102.

45. Ibid., pp. 56-57. Emphasis added.

46. With regard to man's defenses against his own death, following the "death of God," in current thought, see Mikel Dufrenne, Pour L'Homme (Paris, 1968).

47. "Many [peasants] sell themselves or members of their families into slavery to escape [starvation]. One Belo Horizonte newspaper discovered as many as 50,000 victims (sold for $1,500,000), and one reporter, to prove it, bought a man and his wife for $30. 'I have seen many a good man starve,' explained the slave; 'that is why I did not mind being sold.' When one slave dealer was arrested in São Paulo in 1959, he admitted having contacts with São Paulo ranchers, coffee plantations, and construction projects for his commodity - except teenage girls who were sold to brothels." John Gerassi, The Great Fear (New York, 1963).

48. M.D. Chenu, Temoignage Chrétien, April 1964, as cited by André Moine, in Christianos y Marxistas después del Concilio (Bueno Aires, 1965), p. 167.

Translation (from French and Spanish): Christian Testimony, April 1964, as cited by André Moine, in Christians and Marxists after the Council

49. For someone to achieve critical consciousness of his status as an oppressed man requires recognition of his reality as an oppressive reality. For this very reason, it requires reaching the "compréhension de l'essence de la societé," which is for Lukács "un facteur de puissance de tout premier ordre, pouquoi c'est meme sans doute l'arme purement et simplement dévisive..." Georg Lukács, Histoire et Conscience de Classe (Paris, 1960), p. 93.

Translation (from French): "understanding the essence of society," which is for Lukács "a power factor of the first order, which is why it's undoubtedly the ultimate weapon..." Georg Lukács, History and Class Consciousness

50. Regarded as process, authentic witness which does not bear immediate fruit cannot be judged an absolute failure. The men who butchered Tiradentes could quarter his body, but they could not erase his witness.

51. Dr. Orlando Aguirre Ortiz, Director of a Medical School at a Cuban university, once told me: "The revolution involves three "P's": palavra, povo, e pólvora [word, people, and gunpowder]. The explosion of the gunpowder clears the people's perception of their concrete situation, in pursuit, through action, of their liberation." It was interesting to observe how this revolutionary physician stressed the word in the sense it has been used in this essay: as action and reflection, as praxis.

52. This relationship will be conflictive if the objective situation is one of oppression or of license.

53. What makes a structure a social structure (and thus historical-cultural) is neither permanence nor change, taken absolutely, but the dialectical relations between the two. In the last analysis, what endures in the social structure is neither permanence nor change; it is the permanence-change dialectic itself.

54. Lenin severely attacked the tendency of the Russian Social Democratic Party to emphasize economic demands of the proletariat as an instrument of the revolutionary struggle, a practice he termed "economic spontaneity." "What is to be Done?" in On Politics and Revolution, Selected Writings (New York, 1968).