Two Decades of Aníbal Quijano’s Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism and Latin America

Vinte anos da Colonialidade do Poder, Eurocentrismo e América Latina de Aníbal Quijano

Abstract

Aníbal Quijano has been one of the most astute and purposeful Latin American social theorists of the second half of the 20th century. His pioneering essays on the ‘Coloniality of Power’ not only inspired the project of Modernity/Coloniality/Decoloniality, but have also influenced countless intellectuals and activists who were not necessarily involved in the so-called ‘Decolonial Turn.’ While Quijano has not left behind a text in which all of the characteristics of his theory on ‘Coloniality’ are systematised, it can be argued that the lengthy essay ‘Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism and Latin America,’ published for the first time twenty years ago, was intended to provide such an overview of his thought. The purpose of this forum is to critically debate the legacy of the Peruvian sociologist during a period which Quijano himself later described as the ‘Root Crisis of the Coloniality of Global Power.’ In the first section, José Gandarilla presents the Latin American antecedents and precursors of the use of the term ‘Coloniality.’ Next, Haydeé García reflects on the interdisciplinary perspective in Aníbal Quijano, the weight of totality, and its historical articulations. Finally, Daniele Benzi opens up and addresses some queries regarding ‘colonial/modern and Eurocentered capitalism,’ from the perspective of macro-historical sociology.

Keywords Quijano, Aníbal; Coloniality of Power; Latin American Critical Thought; interdisciplinarity; macro-historical sociology.