The centrality of politics in Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s economic thought

Abstract

This article analyzes Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s sociological interpretationof development and dependency. It seeks to explain the central place of politics (rather than economics) in his outlook and how these dimensions are linked within the framework of Marxist dialectic, a theoretical and methodologicalconstruct on which the author relies, always in dialogue and integration with other perspectives and sociological theories (including Weber’s). The centrality of politics and Marxist dialectics will be reconstructed as the explanatory/comprehensive and above all, interpretativebases on which the author analyzes Brazil and Latin America.