En los cruces burocráticos se esconden los imaginarios sociales

The Final Activity (Actividad Terminal) of the Interinstitutional Chair Cornelius Castoriadis took place on March 13 and 14, 2025, at the Autonomous Metropolitan University-Xochimilco (UAM-X) in Mexico City. This academic initiative is dedicated to exploring the philosopher’s work and its implications for modern society. The conference, titled Social Imaginaries Hidden in Bureaucratic Crossroads, was presented by Christophe Premat and examined how bureaucratic systems are deeply embedded in the social imaginary and play a decisive role in shaping contemporary power structures.

The event was organized by Rafael Miranda Redondo, a researcher whose work focuses on political philosophy, social imaginaries, and the dynamics of bureaucracy and autonomy in contemporary societies. His contributions to the study of Castoriadis and his engagement with issues of political organization and participatory democracy provided a crucial framework for the discussions held during the conference.

The reflection developed during the two-day event aimed to understand how autonomous constellations can emerge in Chiapas and in the broader Mexican context. Drawing on Castoriadis’ theoretical framework, the participants examined how political and social movements can challenge the bureaucratic structures that dominate public life and explore alternative forms of self-organization and direct democracy.

The presentation focused on Castoriadis' paradigm shift, which moved beyond the classical contradiction between capital and labor to introduce a new analytical framework: the separation between those who govern and those who execute. This perspective provided insight into the crisis of meaning that characterizes modern Western societies, shedding light on how bureaucracy institutionalizes rational control as a metanorm. Bureaucracy thus becomes not only an administrative tool but also a fundamental structure shaping social imaginaries and political organization.

The talk explored the chaos-cosmos dialectic in Castoriadis' thought, emphasizing its implications for political transformation. His conceptualization of autonomy and heteronomy was also discussed, particularly in relation to how bureaucratic power reinforces heteronomous structures by restricting democratic self-institution. The bureaucratic phenomenon was analyzed in both totalitarian and neoliberal contexts, demonstrating how it functions as a mechanism of social control. Historical and contemporary examples illustrated how bureaucracy has served both as a stabilizing force for existing power structures and as a significant barrier to democratic participation.

The persistence of bureaucratic structures in academia, politics, and social movements was examined, highlighting the contradictions they generate when attempting to foster genuine citizen engagement. Additionally, the discussion addressed the ways in which social imaginaries are continuously shaped and reshaped through bureaucratic institutions, reinforcing particular norms and power hierarchies while suppressing others.

Following the presentation, an open dialogue session allowed participants to critically engage with the themes discussed. The exchange provided a space for reflection on the relevance of Castoriadis' critique in understanding contemporary bureaucratic and institutional structures, as well as on the possibilities of fostering autonomy within them.