territory, colonial history, São Paulo, hinterland, urban network

Este artigo apresenta as principais teses do pensador Roberto Mangabeira Unger relacionadas a uma interpretação dos novos parâmetros da democracia ocidental, das insti­tuições e da sociedade brasileira como um todo. Também desenvolve um diálogo com o autor, questionando alguns dos seus fundamentos. Mangabeira, ao pretender requalificar o de­bate sobre a democracia, a partir da adoção de novas alternativas institucionais, coloca-se num viés experimentalista. Utilizando-se de pressupostos marxistas numa mistura com pressupostos schumpeterianos, este autor é qualificado, nas palavras de Anderson (1992), como: “um profeta do primeiro mundo, a partir de uma abordagem filosófica do terceiro mun­do”. É nesse sentido que compreender suas teo­rias e dialogar/discordar tornam-se objetivos chaves deste trabalho.This pa­per discusses the importance of Roberto Man­gabeira Unger’s ideas, since he establishes new parameters for the occidental democracy, the institutions and the Brazilian society as a who­le. His theory, by attempting to re-qualify the debate on democracy from the adoption of new institutional alternatives, expresses an expe­rimentalist bias. Using Marxist assumptions with schumpeterian assumptions, the author is considered, in Anderson’s (1992) words, as: “a prophet of the first world, from a philosophi­cal approach of the third world”. In this way, understanding his theories and dialoguing/ disagreeing become key objectives of this work. This pa­per discusses the importance of Roberto Man­gabeira Unger’s ideas, since he establishes new parameters for the occidental democracy, the institutions and the Brazilian society as a who­le. His theory, by attempting to re-qualify the debate on democracy from the adoption of new institutional alternatives, expresses an expe­rimentalist bias. Using Marxist assumptions with schumpeterian assumptions, the author is considered, in Anderson’s (1992) words, as: “a prophet of the first world, from a philosophi­cal approach of the third world”. In this way, understanding his theories and dialoguing/ disagreeing become key objectives of this work