"The red thread" of history in the sociology of Gino Germani

structures, processes and contingencies

Abstract

This short article contextualizes the manuscript "Marxism and the idea of ​​'historical process'" by Gino Germani in the broader context of his sociology of social change. In particular, it highlights how Germani's reception of the Marxist tradition, based on his readings of "Young Marx" and Italian Marxism, aligns with his vision of the historical and social process of change as simultaneously conditioned and contingent. This means that, for Germani, change is oriented towards modernization, but it is also generates different social structures and political regimes, especially in peripheral contexts such as Argentina and Latin America.