Coloniality of power theory and pluriversal epistemology/gnosiology

Abstract

Coloniality, according to Rita Segato (2021), is one of the four theories created in Latin America that broke the bubble of Western-centric science. It was elaborated by the Peruvian philosopher Aníbal Quijano about 30 years ago. Not only has it erased the hegemony of modernity, but it has also caused substantial changes in the Social and Human Sciences. In this study, the intention is to highlight pluriversal epistemology/gnosiology as a development of decoloniality in the perspective of the decolonial turn. Therefore, the theoretical-methodological support adopted is that of decolonial genealogy. Through it, it is possible, among other aspects, to give visibility to subjects, knowledge and practices that were subalternized by the violent colonizing process of this continent. The paradigm shift proposed by Quijano, when creating the theory of the coloniality of power, was taken as a reference both to unveil the world pattern of power, typical of coloniality/modernity, and to support the proposal of decolonial epistemology/gnosiology. For this harvest, Mignolo (2016) proposes the emergence of new enunciation loci, that is, a decolonial turn in favor of pluriversal epistemologies/gnosiologies. The decolonial epistemic horizons opened with the theory of coloniality and in vogue in the decolonial turn have contributed to the emergence of new epistemologies/gnosiologies that are no longer subject to the hierarchies of colonial/modern science, but to the knowledge that comes from “life itself”, as observed Mignolo (2021, p. 561).