Encountering the Pluriverse: Looking for Alternatives in Other Worlds

Abstract

The lack of ontological pluralism in International Relations has been a strong determinant of the general scope of the discipline and its objects of study, as well as all that is rendered irrelevant to the study of the "international". IR has marginalized difference not only by disciplining epistemologies, but also by rejecting other ontologies, particularly those which belong to indigenous peoples, by relegating them to the realm of myths, legends and beliefs. The roots of ontological marginalization are deeply seeded, so much so that they are present in virtually every field of science (social or not). In order to understand this concern with ontology, we need to refer to the modern age, specifically its Western and now liberal manifestations. The main objective of this article is to put the ontological question on the table. It is argued that the "truth" of one-world, one reality and one universe is also a myth, showing how it has hidden many worlds and many realities. The concept of the pluriverse is used to show how -from different ontological positions, particularly relational cosmovisions like the Andean worldview -, alternatives actually appear. The text is divided into three parts: the first one depicts the pluriverse and what it implies and enables, the second describes how the pluriverse has been occulted by the myth of modernity, and the third part is an attempt to illustrate how relational ontologies contribute to the theoretical constitution of the global. IntroductionTheories are processes through which we make sense of our environment and our reality. This suggests that there can be as many theories as necessary to our comprehension of our cosmos. However, for the sake of coherence and achieving generalized knowledge, it is normally assumed that theories have to be proven, be complementary, convincing or else overthrown. Thus, theoretical work is in the business of "selling ideas" (Kurki and Wight 2013). This intellectual exchange between sellers and buyers is also embedded in power relations that have disciplined, Copyright:• This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original author and source are credited.• Este é um artigo publicado em acesso aberto e distribuído sob os termos da The prevalence of Western thinking in IR has two obvious and reciprocal forms: the Western origins of the most important and mainstream theories in philosophy, political theory and history; and the Eurocentric historical framing of world history (Acharya and Buzan 2010, 16). The practice of gatekeeping, which has been amply illustrated and discussed 1 , reinforces this tendency, and yet, a discipline like IR that intends to produce knowledge about the world is by definition a discipline that should have space for theoretical perspectives from around the world. Sadly, this is not only not true, but the knowledge that is produced about the world in the nort...

Relações Internacionais e Pensamento Ocidental/Moderno-Colonial: Balanços e Perspectivas | International Relations and Western/Modern-colonial thinking: balances and perspectives

“…Amaya Querejazu é outra pensadora que, preocupada como outros mundos e outras experiências do globo podem formar o modo de compreender e estudar as relações interacionais, apresenta a necessidade de explorar outras epistemologias e ontologias que não a de matriz moderna. Para a autora, o pensamento ocidental tem duas formas de predominância na disciplina: pela origem ocidental das teorias em filosofia, teoria política e história e pelo enquadramento histórico eurocêntrico na história mundial (Querejazu, 2016). Assim, ela defende que o pensamento ocidental está fundado sobre três mitos: a deliberada separação entre natureza e sociedade, o antropocentrismo e a linearidade do tempo.…”

“…Em relação ao modo de conhecer da modernidade, ela afirma que este se firmou sobre a essencialização do ser humano e a postulação de um modo de conhecimento fundado na separação entre sujeito, objeto e fenômeno. A ciência moderna, de traço positivista, foi usada como ferramenta para a construção do universo que ajudou a pensar a realidade sem tempo e espaço (Escobar citado por Querejazu, 2016) e a construir a ideia de que todos vivemos em um único mundo no qual a própria realidade está fora do ser humano, é definida e singular (Law citado por Querejazu, 2016). O que essa visão oculta é que a cosmovisão moderna, narrada como única e universal, é uma de muitas cosmovisões; o que tem/teve consequências profundas pois determinou como mito, lenda ou crença outras epistemologias e ontologias.…”

Towards global relational theorizing: a dialogue between Sinophone and Anglophone scholarship on relationalism

“…In this respect, the emphasis on (Anglo/Sino/other-) phonics is not coincidental. The ontology of relations shared by the approaches discussed in this thematic section does not merely critique the 'authorized imaginaries' of the IR mainstream, but listens attentively to the voices of those that have been neglected, delegitimized, and scorned by the dominant ontology of things (Querejazu 2016). The epistemic compassion of relationality decentres the sense-making habits of an IR accustomed to modernity's insistence that the only way of relating to the world is through the lens of (Western) scientific knowledge.…”

Suma Qamaña as a strategy of power: politicizing the Pluriverse

“…In IR, references are still scarce and sometimes made in relation to the notion of pluriverse, which translates theorists` effort to establish an ontological criticism of the discipline, stressing its Western colonial feature and the need to incorporate contributions from colonized peoples. That is the case of Querejazu (2016), who advocates that Andean cosmovisions and their conceptual tools, such as the ayllu, could foment IR discussion on multiple issues and bring a more inclusive facet to the discipline.…”

“…The advent of postcolonial and indigenous studies has been crucial in denouncing the silencing of difference by the academy, recovering alterity as an important analytical category for the discipline (Beier 2009;Chakrabarty 2000;Grovogui 2006;Inayatullah and Blaney 2004;Lightfoot 2016;Muppiddi 2012;Shaw 2008;Shilliam 2011;Smith 2012). Following this wave of criticism and influenced by social scientists` research on Latin America (Blaser 2010;De la Cadena 2010Dussel 2013;Escobar, 2010Escobar, , 2011Escobar, , 2012Latour 2010), the notion of "pluriverse" has recently gained the attention of IR scholars (Conway and Singh 2011;Querejazu 2016;Rojas 2015Rojas , 2016Blaney 2013, 2017;Youatt 2017; see also International Studies Association 2016 Program). Related to the modes of life of "Non-Western" peoples, the term addresses the complexity of social relations as it advocates the emergence of diverse knowledge and cosmologies which, distinguished from the Modern one, do not place human beings in the center of existence.…”