Vol. 11 No. 1 (2020): Dossier Marx e Tocqueville

Inquietude journal, still in the celebrations of its ten years of uninterrupted publications, brings to the readers a special edition. In this edition, which is unique not only for its content but also for the disturbing historical moment in which we live, we have the great pleasure of presenting a dossier dedicated to the thought of Alexis de Tocqueville and Karl Marx. Are there possible relations, apparent or potential, in the confrontation between the ideals of these two thinkers? The authors of the articles that make up this dossier provide us with their reflections on this and other questions.

In the article From communes and community to the spirit of freedom: Between Alexis de Tocqueville and Karl Marx, André Rezende Soares Correia reflects on the link between the approximation of experiences in public space and their reflections on the constitution of freedom. With the care to highlight, on one hand, the differences between a position that questions the necessity of the State and private property by Marx and, on the other hand, a perspective of democracy more aligned in accordance with a certain administrative structure in Tocqueville, Correia is assertive in punctuating what can unite the thinking of these two classic authors of political thought: the spirit of solidarity and communion, as well as its reflection already indicated in the title of the article in question - the spirit of freedom.

The cliché about the need to understand the past in order to better understand our present and, also, glimpse possible futures is an increasingly palpable reality. Escaping the commonplace and providing us with an inspiring reflection on the role of the press in a democratic society is what Brenner Brunetto Oliveira Silveira presents in his text of The challenges in the 21st century about the relation between press freedom and democracy according to Tocqueville and Marx. According to the author, press freedom is more than an indispensable condition of democratic societies, and therefore, its opposite, censorship, is an abuse. Despite our generalization, Silveira also reflects on the limits and means by which the press must travel. Undoubtedly, an important reflection on the tracks of Tocqueville and Marx.

Still having as background the democratic question, our next author aims its relationship, in general terms, with the world of work. In From democracy to the head of the pin - the new manufacturing aristocracy and the alienation of the worker: A meeting point for Marx and Tocqueville, author Carlos Stuart Coronel Palma Junior rescues reflection on the constitutive role of work on the human condition. In this sense, the author’s argument is to show that both for Tocqueville and for Marx, work is an essential function of human life, which somehow contributes to its own meaning. Therefore, the debate conducted throughout the text seeks to show, beyond a generic understanding of the thought of Tocqueville and Marx about work, how much the changes in the world of work, so accelerated from the nineteenth century, echo until today.

Finally, Renato César Rodrigues offers us Confluences and divergences in the concept and in the division of labor in Marx and Tocqueville. In the article, the author deepens the discussion previously started by Carlos Stuart Coronel Palma Junior about the man-work relationship and how Marx and Tocqueville interpreted it. Although the topics discussed are similar, it is worth noting that the originality of Rodrigues is in emphasizing not only the equidistant points from which the analyzed thinkers discussed their themes, but also the contemporary impression that we can use to reflect on the relationship between workers and capitalists.

We hope that you all have a great read of this dossier, as well as our continuous flow section which has diverse articles in its topics. The cover image of this edition is the painting Eruption of vesuvius by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1755 - 1851), from which we cannot escape an important analogy with the general theme of our dossier and our times: is democracy dormant like the current Vesuvius or in an imminent eruption?

Sincerely,

The Editorial Team of Inquietude.

Anderson Carvalho dos Santos
João Pedro Andrade de Campos