Some Pitfalls of Decoloniality Theory

Decoloniality theory, with its signature concepts coloniality of power and coloniality of knowledge, initially emerged in Latin America. It has been developed further in southern Africa, where it now has significant influence in some universities. Decoloniality theory has to be distinguished from th...

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Autor principal:	George Hull
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	University of Johannesburg 2021
Materias:	decoloniality theory mignolo ndlovu-gatsheni philosophy Social Sciences H
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/52b76717b27c41ae94b6bfa537846eee
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:52b76717b27c41ae94b6bfa537846eee
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:52b76717b27c41ae94b6bfa537846eee2021-11-14T16:43:04ZSome Pitfalls of Decoloniality Theory2075-24582616-907Xhttps://doaj.org/article/52b76717b27c41ae94b6bfa537846eee2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/691https://doaj.org/toc/2075-2458https://doaj.org/toc/2616-907XDecoloniality theory, with its signature concepts coloniality of power and coloniality of knowledge, initially emerged in Latin America. It has been developed further in southern Africa, where it now has significant influence in some universities. Decoloniality theory has to be distinguished from the broader endeavour of intellectual decolonization. The latter includes all intellectual efforts to free theory and ideology from distorting bias which is the effect of colonial or neocolonial power relations. Intellectual decolonization in this broader sense (e.g., in the writings of Anthony Appiah and Kwasi Wiredu) is truth-oriented: it aims to expose incorrect claims which are the result of bias, replacing them with correct theoretical conclusions. By contrast, contemporary decoloniality theory (e.g., in the writings of Walter Mignolo and Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni) embraces several contentious metaphysical ideas, among which is rejection of the very possibility of universal truth. When decoloniality theory first emerged (in Aníbal Quijano’s innovative writings) out of the discipline of political economy, however, it exemplified the broader, truth-oriented sense of intellectual decolonization. Quijano, and later Ramón Grosfoguel, were concerned to expose several false theoretical claims in social science which are a legacy of Eurocentric bias. Here I argue that tracing the steps by which contemporary decoloniality theory developed from this starting point can reveal some of its principal shortcomings. I seek to show that several of the distinctive metaphysical ideas in contemporary decoloniality theory are founded on drastically undermotivated, hyperphilosophising inferences from empirical premises. Even considered purely on its own terms, I argue, contemporary decoloniality theory exhibits a number of weaknesses and contradictions.George HullUniversity of Johannesburgarticledecoloniality theorymignolondlovu-gatsheniphilosophySocial SciencesHENThe Thinker, Vol 89, Pp 63-74 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	decoloniality theory mignolo ndlovu-gatsheni philosophy Social Sciences H
spellingShingle	decoloniality theory mignolo ndlovu-gatsheni philosophy Social Sciences H George Hull Some Pitfalls of Decoloniality Theory
description	Decoloniality theory, with its signature concepts coloniality of power and coloniality of knowledge, initially emerged in Latin America. It has been developed further in southern Africa, where it now has significant influence in some universities. Decoloniality theory has to be distinguished from the broader endeavour of intellectual decolonization. The latter includes all intellectual efforts to free theory and ideology from distorting bias which is the effect of colonial or neocolonial power relations. Intellectual decolonization in this broader sense (e.g., in the writings of Anthony Appiah and Kwasi Wiredu) is truth-oriented: it aims to expose incorrect claims which are the result of bias, replacing them with correct theoretical conclusions. By contrast, contemporary decoloniality theory (e.g., in the writings of Walter Mignolo and Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni) embraces several contentious metaphysical ideas, among which is rejection of the very possibility of universal truth. When decoloniality theory first emerged (in Aníbal Quijano’s innovative writings) out of the discipline of political economy, however, it exemplified the broader, truth-oriented sense of intellectual decolonization. Quijano, and later Ramón Grosfoguel, were concerned to expose several false theoretical claims in social science which are a legacy of Eurocentric bias. Here I argue that tracing the steps by which contemporary decoloniality theory developed from this starting point can reveal some of its principal shortcomings. I seek to show that several of the distinctive metaphysical ideas in contemporary decoloniality theory are founded on drastically undermotivated, hyperphilosophising inferences from empirical premises. Even considered purely on its own terms, I argue, contemporary decoloniality theory exhibits a number of weaknesses and contradictions.
format	article
author	George Hull
author_facet	George Hull
author_sort	George Hull
title	Some Pitfalls of Decoloniality Theory
title_short	Some Pitfalls of Decoloniality Theory
title_full	Some Pitfalls of Decoloniality Theory
title_fullStr	Some Pitfalls of Decoloniality Theory
title_full_unstemmed	Some Pitfalls of Decoloniality Theory
title_sort	some pitfalls of decoloniality theory
publisher	University of Johannesburg
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/52b76717b27c41ae94b6bfa537846eee
work_keys_str_mv	AT georgehull somepitfallsofdecolonialitytheory
_version_	1718428981994192896

Some Pitfalls of Decoloniality Theory

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