Coloniality at Large: Latin America and the Postcolonial Debate

by Mabel Moraña (Editor), Enrique Dussel (Editor), Carlos A. Jáuregui (Editor)

Postcolonial theory has developed mainly in the U.S. academy, and it has focused chiefly on nineteenth-century and twentieth-century colonization and decolonization processes in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Caribbean. Colonialism in Latin America originated centuries earlier, in the transoceanic adventures from which European modernity itself was born. Coloniality at Large brings together classic and new reflections on the theoretical implications of colonialism in Latin America. By pointing out its particular characteristics, the contributors highlight some of the philosophical and ideological blind spots of contemporary postcolonial theory as they offer a thorough analysis of that theory’s applicability to Latin America’s past and present.Written by internationally renowned scholars based in Latin America, the United States, and Europe, the essays reflect multiple disciplinary and ideological perspectives. Some are translated into English for the first time. The collection includes theoretical reflections, literary criticism, and historical and ethnographic case studies focused on Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Brazil, the Andes, and the Caribbean. Contributors examine the relation of Marxist thought, dependency theory, and liberation theology to Latin Americans’ experience of and resistance to coloniality, and they emphasize the critique of Occidentalism and modernity as central to any understanding of the colonial project. Analyzing the many ways that Latin Americans have resisted imperialism and sought emancipation and sovereignty over several centuries, they delve into topics including violence, identity, otherness, memory, heterogeneity, and language. Contributors also explore Latin American intellectuals’ ambivalence about, or objections to, the “post” in postcolonial; to many, globalization and neoliberalism are the contemporary guises of colonialism in Latin America.

Contributors: Arturo Arias, Gordon Brotherston, Santiago Castro-Gómez, Sara Castro-Klaren,
Amaryll Chanady, Fernando Coronil, Román de la Campa, Enrique Dussel, Ramón Grosfoguel,
Russell G. Hamilton, Peter Hulme, Carlos A. Jáuregui, Michael Löwy, Nelson Maldonado-Torres,
José Antonio Mazzotti, Eduardo Mendieta, Walter D. Mignolo, Mario Roberto Morales, Mabel Moraña, Mary Louise Pratt, Aníbal Quijano, José Rabasa, Elzbieta Sklodowska, Catherine E. Walsh

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Philosophy, Anthologies

640 pages, Paperback

First published June 25, 2008

Reviews

[Maryam AlHajri · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book situates the reader in the field of postcolonial theory as applied to Latin American studies and explores the key notions that came from the postcolonial Latin American discussion within the broader framework of global postcolonial and postmodern debates. The collection draws from different fields to understand and investigate the historicity of critical thinking in Latin America, and most importantly to create a comparison between the latter and postcolonial theory; it’s shortcomings, blindspots… “for the application of postcolonial theories to the study of the region would require a great deal of ideological and theoretical refinement”.

The first section presents a thorough ethnographic reading of several localities, while the second section deals directly with concepts of decoloniality, coloniality of power, and transnmodernity. I particularly enjoyed Sara Castro-Klaren's chapter on Jose Carlos Mariategui but found Quijano's chapter problematic; ahistorical, vague, and fails to interact with the specifics and localities of any given context.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent series of essays on postcolonialism from a latin american perspective, which is refreshing given the gayatri spivak/homi bhabha monopoly on defining post-colonial studies from an asian subcontinental/post british colonialist perspective. Not that that perspective isn't relevant, but it doesn't lend much insight into latin america's relation with various hegemons whose colonialism is significantly different from that displayed by the European powers in the 19th century.

[Horacio Castillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything you wanted to know about the Latin American Subaltern Studies group but were too afraid to ask. Giving a decolonial turn to the PoCo.

[nika zzz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly informative, but burdensomely long-winded.

[Daniel Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Postcolonialism normally focuses on the former British and French colonies of Africa and Asia, and is normally an English (and French) dialogue between these regions and northern Euro-America. This book is a 600-page Latin American contribution to post-colonialism, focusing on what the Latin American experience and scholarship can contribute to the field. This is not a singular book, but is rather a collection of 23 essays organized thematically: Decolonization, Colonial Difference, Geopolitics and Occidentalism, Religion, Comparative Postcolonialism, and Ethnicity.

The book is centered on a really good point - colonialism began in the 16th century, not the 19th, and colonialism helped create both capitalism and modernity. As a result, to better understand (post)colonialism, it is absolutely essential to explore the history and experience of Latin America. I thought all of the essays were brilliant, and I learned at least something from each of them.

Two minor caveats (which are also the reason for 4/5 stars): 1) Some of the essays are more readable for the amateur, and some are more, shall we say, esoteric; 2) The book was published in 2008, and I think the latest essay was actually written in 2001. It is currently 2019, and I wonder how the past 2 decades would change the authors' perspectives.