The Politics of Relativity

This chapter focuses on the key role played by fundamental science and, in particular, by Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity in Mariátegui’s thought. Despite his limited grasp of fundamental physics, Mariátegui was deeply interested in the change of scientific paradigm brought about by Einsteinian physics. For the Peruvian Marxist, the Theory of Relativity demonstrated the contingency of truth (scientific or otherwise) as a historically bound discursive construct devoid of any universal validity. Taking Einstein’s scientific revolution as a source of inspiration for revolutionary politics, Mariátegui reclaimed in his journalistic essays the value of scientific inquiry to the development of a revolutionary conscience. In doing so, he transforms the Theory of Relativity into a tool of ideological critique, capable of subverting the contemporary logic of coloniality and the strong links between scientific positivism and the projects of modernity designed by the Latin American ruling elites at the turn of the century.