Norbert Lechner: Politics and Utopia in Latin America

Abstract

Politics has experienced a deep transformation process that implied the weakening of the utopian dimension that was characteristic until the seventies. After the establishment of authoritarian and neoliberal regimes, politics takes an instrumental turn that led to a disenchantment that undermines the legitimacy of the political democratic order. In the paper, this problem is analyzed from the perspective of prominent political scientist Norbert Lechner.