Search

This paper argues that the authoritarian and totalitarian exacerbation of capitalism, in the firsthalf of the 20th century, originated in the crisis experienced by free market capitalism, due to the dynamics of the liberal society. The result was a massive violation of liberal human rights that had enabled the consolidation and legitimation of free market capitalism itself. Thus, the text suggests that an authoritarian tendency, linked to the unstable dynamics and the tendency to crisis of capital reproduction, is inherent to modern liberal society. This structural feature is illustrated through the debates at the Frankfurt School on the end of liberal capitalism. Within this general horizon, the paper gives special consideration to the critical analysis carried out by Franz Neumann, in tension with Friedrich Pollock's “state capitalism” thesis on the totalitarian transformation of the Weimar Republic.

RESUMO: Este trabalho tem por objetivo trazer as contribuições teóricas de Franz Neumann e Boaventura de Sousa Santos no que tange ao direito e à emancipação. Primeiro são resgatados aspectos históricos das relações entre Estado, Direito e capitalismo. Em seguida são traçadas algumas características das perspectivas dos pensadores, que são posteriormente analisadas em conjunto. Com formações e vivências diversas, os dois autores contribuem para se pensar formas de emancipação social a partir do Direito, ambos polissêmicos. Constata-se semelhanças e divergências entre suas propostas, as últimas notadamente na visão a respeito do direito, que enriquecem o debate atual. Enquanto aquele trabalha primordialmente numa concepção estatal, este transita do local ao global. Ambos enxergam no capitalismo uma barreira para a emancipação e consideram imprescindível transformar os campos estatais, sociais e jurídicos nas páginas da história humana. As próximas, em branco, estão em disputa. A pesquisa é de cunho bibliográfico. ABSTRACT: This paper aims to bring theoretical contributions from Franz Neumann and Boaventura de Sousa Santos regarding to law and emancipation. Firstly, historical aspects of relations between State, Law and capitalism are retrieved. Hereupon, some characteristics concerning the two thinkers' perspectives are outlined and then analyzed en bloc. Having distinct formations and experiences, the two authors contribute to think forms of social emancipation through law, both polissemic terms. Similarities and divergences between their propositions are evidenced, namely in their visions concerning law, which enriches the current debate. While Neumann works mainly in a stateview, Santos transits from local to global. Both see in capitalism a hurdle to emancipation and consider vital to transform state, social and juridical fields in the pages of human history. The next ones, in blank, are in dispute. The research is bibliographical.