Goodbye to Marco Gandásegui (h)
Panamanian sociologist and researcher. Co-coordinator of the CLACSO Working Group “Studies on the United States”
The social sciences are in mourning because on Friday, April 24, Panamanian academic Marco Gandásegui (h), professor of Sociology at the University of Panama, associate researcher at CELA, who was one of the coordinators of the CLACSO Working Group “Studies on the United States” and author of numerous publications, including the Anthology of contemporary Panamanian critical thought edited by CLACSO.
Gandásegui was born in Panama City on April 28, 1943. He studied journalism at the University of Chile, earned a master's degree in sociology from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), and a doctorate in the same discipline from New York University (USA). He dedicated much of his life to teaching, working as a professor at the School of Sociology at the University of Panama. He was the founder of the Center for Latin American Studies (CELA) “Justo Arosemena,” one of the country's leading and oldest social studies institutions and one of the most prominent CLACSO member centers in the region.
At the time of his passing, he was the editor of Tareas magazine, founded by the Panamanian writer Ricaurte Soler and the oldest social science publication still in continuous publication today. As a social activist, his writing and work were always committed to social struggles, denouncing the US colonial enclave in the Canal Zone and advocating for the recovery of national sovereignty.
Among his works, a true expression of Latin American critical thought, the following stand out: The concentration of economic power in Panama, The myth of social communication, Public enterprises, Democracy in Panama, The debate on the expansion of the Panama Canal, Social classes in Panama, The agricultural workforce, Labor struggles in Panama 1850-1978, The crisis of US hegemony, The United States against the world: Trump and the new geopolitics, Hegemony and democracy in dispute. Trump and the geopolitics of neoconservatism, the United States and the new international balance of power and Anthology of contemporary Panamanian critical thought.
CLACSO extends its deepest condolences to his family, colleagues and friends for this loss, with the certainty that Marco will continue to be present in his works, in the spaces he created and in his teachings.
His most recent contribution to CLACSO was an accurate analysis of the current situation shaking the world, published in our section “Thinking about the pandemic – Social Observatory of the coronavirus”.
See note “The crisis of capitalism and the coronavirus”
The CLACSO Working Group “Studies on the United States” bids farewell to its founder and coordinator Marco A. Gandásegui, son (1943-2020).
The CLACSO Working Group on “United States Studies” deeply regrets to announce the passing of Professor Marco A. Gandásegui, Jr., who was instrumental in the creation of our working group and its coordinator for nearly two decades. His passing is a great loss for the social sciences and critical thinking in the Americas.
A teacher and journalist, he contributed from the classroom and research to the study of the United States, the complex relations with Latin America and the Caribbean, and was an unwavering defender of the rights of our countries to the exercise of sovereignty, to the construction of an integral democracy and to the development of an academy at the service of the dominated sectors.
He distinguished himself as a Professor at the University of Panama, founder of the Council for Latin American Studies (CELA), and director of the renowned journal Tareas. He was a member of the CLACSO Steering Committee and president of the Latin American Sociological Association (ALAS).
Among his many other activities in the field of social sciences, Marco founded the Working Group on “Studies on the United States” of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) and has coordinated it for the past 16 years. Under his leadership, this Group has focused its critical analysis on understanding—and, in turn, explaining from a Latin American and Caribbean perspective—the modus operandi of the United States through three main lines of inquiry: i) the crisis of U.S. hegemony and its global impact; ii) the ruling and governing classes and the political, economic, and cultural structures within the United States; iii) the changes and continuities in the relationship between the United States and other countries and governments of Latin America. Marco coordinated the five books produced by the group. Crisis of US hegemony (2007) United States. The systemic crisis and new forms of legitimation (2010) The United States Beyond the Crisis (2012) The United States and the new international balance of power (2016), y The United States against the world. Trump and the new geopolitics (2018), all published in co-edition with Siglo XXI México and CLACSO.
We express our solidarity with his family – his wife Valeria and his sons Marco Antonio and Alejandro – and his colleagues and friends, and we commit ourselves to his legacy, seeking to continue contributing critical knowledge so that Our America may finally be free and sovereign, not subjected to imperialism.
Until Victory Always, dear Marco!
Your colleagues from the CLACSO Working Group “Studies on the United States”
STELLA CALLONI'S TRIBUTE TO MARCO GANDÁSEGUI (h)
Argentine journalist and writer Stella Calloni, who knew Marco Gandásegui (h) well, pays a heartfelt tribute to the recently deceased Panamanian scientist.
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