Aníbal Quijano: Foundational Essays on the Coloniality of Power

by Aníbal Quijano, Walter D. Mignolo (Editor), Rita Segato (Editor), Catherine E. Walsh (Editor), David Frye (Translator)

Overview

The Peruvian sociologist Aníbal Quijano is widely considered to be a foundational figure of the decolonial perspective grounded in three basic concepts: coloniality, coloniality of power, and the colonial matrix of power. His decolonial theorizations of these three concepts have transformed the principles and assumptions of the very idea of knowledge, impacted the social sciences and humanities, and questioned the myth of rationality in natural sciences. The essays in this volume encompass nearly thirty years of Quijano’s work, bringing them to an English-reading audience for the first time. This volume is not simply an introduction to Quijano’s work; it achieves one of his unfulfilled goals: to write a book that contains his main hypotheses, concepts, and arguments. In this regard, the collection encourages a fuller understanding and broader implementation of the analyses and concepts that he developed over the course of his long career. Moreover, it demonstrates that the tools for reading and dismantling coloniality originated outside the academy in Latin America and the former Third World.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781478059356
Publisher:	Duke University Press
Publication date:	03/01/2024
Series:	On Decoloniality
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	408
File size:	872 KB

About the Author

Aníbal Quijano (1928–2018) was a renowned Peruvian sociologist and theorist and the author of numerous books.

Walter D. Mignolo is William H. Wannamaker Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Romance Studies and Professor of Literature at Duke University.

Rita Segato is Professor Emerita in Bioethics and Human Rights at the University of Brasilia.

Catherine E. Walsh is Professor Emerita at the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar.

Table of Contents

Introduction / Catherine E. Walsh, Walter D. Mignolo, and Rita Segato 1
1. Paradoxes of Modernity in Latin America  32
2. The Aesthetic of Utopia  64
3. Coloniality and Modernity/Rationality  73
4. Questioning “Race”  85
5. Coloniality of Power and Social Classification  95
6. The Return of the Future and Questions about Knowledge  132
7. Coloniality of Power, Globalization, and Democracy  146
8. The New Anticapitalist Imaginary  188
9. Don Quixote and the Windmills in Latin America  204
10. The “Indigenous Movement” and Unresolved Questions in Latin America  229
11. Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism, and Latin America  256
12. Coloniality of Power and De/Coloniality of Power  303
13. Thirty Years Later: Another Reunion: Notes for Another Debate  317
14. The Crisis of the Colonial/Modern/Eurocentred Horizon of Meaning  331
15. Latin America: Toward a New Historical Meaning  347
16. Coloniality of Power and Subjectivity in Latin America  361
17. “Bien Vivir”: Between “Development” and the De/Coloniality of Power  379
18. Labor  392
19. Notes on the Decoloniality of Power  411
20. Modernity, Capital, and Latin America Were Born the Same Day: Interview by Nora Velarde  418
Bibliography  443
Index  457

Editorial Reviews

As the author who coined the widely used concept of ‘coloniality,’ there is an urgent need for the works of Aníbal Quijano to be available in English. His work is essential for the study of colonial cultures and societies and also for the analysis of contemporary times, which are marked by the perpetuation of colonial systems of domination. This book will enrich and advance not only Latin American studies but sociology, political science, anthropology, race and ethnic studies, and the humanities more broadly.”—Mabel Moraña, author of, Philosophy and Criticism in Latin America: From Mariátegui to Sloterdijk

“Aníbal Quijano reviews the absences caused by Eurocentrism in the understanding of Latin America and the Caribbean and shows how the coloniality of power fragilized our nation-states by imposing race from the outset to classify, dominate, and exploit us. Hence, strengthening our national identities becomes indispensable to hindering the erosion of our states and to warding off the threats of the imperial bloc, led by the United States, against life on planet Earth.”—Jean Casimir, author of, The Haitians: A Decolonial History

"Quijano’s oeuvre is both relentlessly historical—often tracing important developments over centuries—and insistently relational, positing that modern Latin America is not intelligible independent of its relationship to Europe (and the U.S.). Many of his essays are stunningly penetrating and dazzlingly synthetic. . . . If Foundational Essays on the Coloniality of Power is consumed in conjunction with his earlier work already available in English, it is sure to satisfy intellectually hungry Anglophones."—Simeon J. Newman, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity

"I hope that the translation of so much of Quijano’s work and the incisive introduction provided by the editors will induce his inclusion in graduate sociology curricula. But more importantly, I hope that this volume will remind graduate students that decoloniality, in the ways elaborated and exemplified by Quijano, is a project worth dreaming about and defending.—Nabila N. Islam, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity

"Aníbal Quijano is one of the classics. . . . The introduction ... introduces four main ideas by Quijano that the volume makes accessible to a wider, non-Spanish speaking readership. It does this well, in a condensed, but readable manner. . . . A worthwhile read."—Alke Jenss, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity

"Quijano gave us much, and I would argue that many of the ideas that he develops or takes from different places and connects with each other in Foundational Essays are indispensable for decolonial thought in this century. . . ."—Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Theory, Culture & Society

"There are many gems in this collection for those who are familiar with Quijano’s political thinking as much as for those who are new to it. . . . [Quijano is] a neglected thinker whose essays still exude a dynamism and originality, not often seen in academia."—Ronaldo Munck, Bulletin of Latin American Research

From the Publisher

"There are many gems in this collection for those who are familiar with Quijano’s political thinking as much as for those who are new to it. . . . [Quijano is] a neglected thinker whose essays still exude a dynamism and originality, not often seen in academia."

Bulletin of Latin American Research - Ronaldo Munck

"Quijano’s oeuvre is both relentlessly historical—often tracing important developments over centuries—and insistently relational, positing that modern Latin America is not intelligible independent of its relationship to Europe (and the U.S.). Many of his essays are stunningly penetrating and dazzlingly synthetic. . . . If Foundational Essays on the Coloniality of Power is consumed in conjunction with his earlier work already available in English, it is sure to satisfy intellectually hungry Anglophones."

Sociology of Race and Ethnicity - Simeon J. Newman

Aníbal Quijano reviews the absences caused by Eurocentrism in the understanding of Latin America and the Caribbean and shows how the coloniality of power fragilized our nation-states by imposing race from the outset to classify, dominate, and exploit us. Hence, strengthening our national identities becomes indispensable to hindering the erosion of our states and to warding off the threats of the imperial bloc, led by the United States, against life on planet Earth.

The Haitians: A Decolonial History - Jean Casimir

As the author who coined the widely used concept of ‘coloniality,’ there is an urgent need for the works of Aníbal Quijano to be available in English. His work is essential for the study of colonial cultures and societies and also for the analysis of contemporary times, which are marked by the perpetuation of colonial systems of domination. This book will enrich and advance not only Latin American studies but sociology, political science, anthropology, race and ethnic studies, and the humanities more broadly.

Philosophy and Criticism in Latin America: From Mariátegui to Sloterdijk - Mabel Moraña

"Aníbal Quijano is one of the classics. . . . The introduction ... introduces four main ideas by Quijano that the volume makes accessible to a wider, non-Spanish speaking readership. It does this well, in a condensed, but readable manner. . . . A worthwhile read."

Sociology of Race and Ethnicity - Alke Jenss

"I hope that the translation of so much of Quijano’s work and the incisive introduction provided by the editors will induce his inclusion in graduate sociology curricula. But more importantly, I hope that this volume will remind graduate students that decoloniality, in the ways elaborated and exemplified by Quijano, is a project worth dreaming about and defending.

Sociology of Race and Ethnicity - Nabila N. Islam

"Quijano gave us much, and I would argue that many of the ideas that he develops or takes from different places and connects with each other in Foundational Essays are indispensable for decolonial thought in this century. . . ."

Theory, Culture & Society - Nelson Maldonado-Torres