Bringing visibility to Latin American autonomists: a comparison between Jaguaribe and Puig

Abstract

Jaguaribe and Puig are two prominent international relations theorists from the Global South. Their work has become classics in Latin American studies and shows a couple of different, dissident, and dissonant voices from the so-called mainstream. Their contributions are the rationale behind autonomist foreign policies in Latin America such as the ones we envisioned during the left-wing governments; thus, they are essential to understand the dynamics and the debates that have taken place in the region for at least three decades. What are the primary theoretical categories and common characteristics of the selected concepts are the questions that guide this research. By answering them, we will shed light on the theoretical contributions of both avant-garde and pioneering authors, while also highlighting the marginalised and little-known voices in the field of study. We undertake a comparative study of the main conceptual categories that organise these autonomist proposals. The main conclusions are that autonomy is a process’ achieved through incremental steps; actors’ rational behaviour would be to increase their room for manoeuvre, based on internal and regional consensus to provide a sustainable framework. Examples and clues for identifying autonomist foreign policies round off the outlook.