Of Utopias and Topoi: Space and Power in Question (Perspectives from Some Experiences of Social Struggles in Latin America/Abya Yala)

Abstract

The Geographia Opportuno Tempore Journal expresses its profound sorrow for the premature loss of the geographer-thinker of Latin American and Brazilian Geography, Carlos Walter Porto-Gonçalves. In 2017, when he gave a masterful inaugural lecture at the Geography Course of the State University of Londrina, at the request of this editor, he sent the beautiful and profound article that we present again in his honor in this 2024 edition.

As a Professor at the Federal Fluminense University, he contributed to the academic formation of numerous generations of Brazilian and foreign geographers. Porto-Gonçalves built an extensive and generous intellectual activity, defending the rights of social movements, being a highly acclaimed reference by audiences who had the opportunity to hear him all over the world. He left, for all the people who had and will have access to his vast work, a reference to think about the geographies of societies with deep lucidity and criticism, gifting us with a legacy-thinker of hope and possible utopias for a world of happiness.

In this article, we seek to elucidate the silence about the space-power relationship traditionally found in Western thought, including in the field of critical thought. More than talking about utopias, we want to bring to the debate the space-power relationship, not in an abstract way, but inspired by some ongoing experiences of social movements in Latin America. Therefore, it is the utopia-topoi relationship that we address. We aim to put into dialogue the theoretical-political lexicon that emanates from these Latin American experiences with the tradition of European critical thought/action, especially with the late Marx.