Latin American decolonial theory is built around the thesis of the “coloniality of knowledge”, which claims that the socio-political domination of Latin America and other regions of the global periphery by European countries and the United States is directly related to the initial colonial imposition and subsequent cultural reproduction of so-called “Western epistemology” and science. I argue that the epistemological claims of four decolonial thinkers (Aníbal Quijano, Walter Mignolo, Enrique Dussel, Santiago Castro-Gómez) that make up the coloniality of knowledge thesis are problematic for several reasons: they are based on distorted and simplistic readings of Descartes, Hume and other Enlightenment figures; they make contentious generalizations about so-called Western epistemology; and they ultimately lead to epistemic relativism, which is a problematic basis for the social sciences and, contrary to decolonial aspirations, renders the subaltern unable to speak.
Paul A. Chambers holds a Ph.D. in peace studies from the University of Bradford, UK, and is an independent academic and researcher based in Colombia. He is a coeditor (with Verónica espinal restrepo) of Conflicto armado: interpretaciones y transformaciones, Medellín: sello editorial Universidad de Medellín, 2012.
The Introduction to this Special Issue lists the background, principal causes, possible future scenarios and potential solutions to the conflict in Thailand’s Deep South. It also presents summaries of the articles in the Special Issue.
The Colombian government’s noncompliance with the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement’s Labor Action Plan calls into question not only the government’s intentions but also the efficacy of human rights activism and discourse for social resistance to neoliberalism. Colombia has managed to adjust the narrative on human rights and improve its international image, paving the way for U.S. ratification of the free-trade agreement despite the fact that the human rights situation continues to be very serious. Its success in this is due to the way in which the debate on the agreement and human rights was framed—with a very narrow focus on trade unionists’ rights and a discourse that did not link civil and political rights to economic and social rights—and to the ideological affinity between neoliberalism and the dominant liberal discourse on human rights. El incumplimiento del Plan de Acción Laboral por parte del gobierno colombiano, en el marco del TLC con Estados Unidos, pone en tela de juicio no solo las intenciones del gobierno, sino la utilidad y eficacia del activismo y discurso de los derechos humanos para la resistencia social al neoliberalismo. El Estado colombiano ha logrado ajustar la narrativa sobre los derechos humanos y mejorar su imagen internacional, lo que le permitió ser “premiado” con la ratificación del TLC a pesar de que la situación de derechos humanos siguiera siendo grave. Esto se debe a la forma en que se enmarcó el debate sobre el TLC y los derechos humanos—con un enfoque demasiado restringido y un discurso que no integró los derechos civiles y políticos con los derechos económicos y sociales—y a la afinidad ideológica entre el neoliberalismo y el discurso dominante de los derechos humanos.
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