On the Path of Perpetual Revolution: From Marx's Millenarianism to Sendero Luminoso

Karl Marx's hostility toward religion masked the religious and millenarian aspects of his own thinking, yet behind Marx's political theories stands a distinctly eschatological reading of history. The Shining Path insurgency in Peru represented a coherent development of Peruvian Left politi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Totalitarian movements and political religions 2007-03, Vol.8 (1), p.115-135
Main Author: Osborn, Ronald
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Conflict
Contradictions
Ideology
Insurgency
Intellectuals
Maoism
Marx, Karl
Marxism
Peasants
Peru
Political behavior
Political movements
Political power
Political theory
Politics
Religion
Resistance movements
Revolution
Revolutions
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Summary:Karl Marx's hostility toward religion masked the religious and millenarian aspects of his own thinking, yet behind Marx's political theories stands a distinctly eschatological reading of history. The Shining Path insurgency in Peru represented a coherent development of Peruvian Left political culture and orthodox Marxist concepts of violent struggle in the name of 'progress'. The senderistas were not an irrational Maoist cult, as they have sometimes been depicted, but an ideologically driven movement led by intellectuals and university students who sought to rigorously apply Marx's ideas while rejecting political compromise with the reactionary state. The suffering inflicted upon the Peruvian peasantry as a result of the senderistas' uncompromising stance reveals some of orthodox Marxism's internal contradictions, while the rise of the peasant resistance movements - especially led by evangélicos and women's groups - highlights the importance of categories of belief and human agency in discussions of the relationship between underdevelopment and conflict.
ISSN:1469-0764
2156-7689
1743-9647
2156-7697
DOI:10.1080/14690760601121689