This essay explores José Carlos Mariátegui's facet as an observer of state cultural policies and as a cultural manager from civil society. Mariátegui was a tireless founder of newspapers and magazines, and promoted a type of editorial production that was marked by novel models of sustainability and dissemination. His aim was both to contribute to transforming culture understood as a "way of life" and to propose editorial projects aimed at forming more informed citizens, with new ideas and a different sensibility from that proposed by capitalist society. For this reason, this article explores this little-studied facet of José Carlos Mariátegui's work based on his journalistic practice, his work in the publishing field -which included the creation of the Minerva publishing house and the sustainability models of Amauta and Labor-, and his incessant concern for cultural policies in Peru...