On Decoloniality

In On Decoloniality Walter D. Mignolo and Catherine E. Walsh explore the hidden forces of the colonial matrix of power, its origination, transformation, and current presence, while asking the crucial questions of decoloniality's how, what, why, with whom, and what for. Interweaving theory-praxis with local histories and perspectives of struggle, they illustrate the conceptual and analytic dynamism of decolonial ways of living and thinking, as well as the creative force of resistance and re-existence. This book speaks to the urgency of these times, encourages delinkings from the colonial matrix of power and its "universals" of Western modernity and global capitalism, and engages with arguments and struggles for dignity and life against death, destruction, and civilizational despair.

Walter D. Mignolo is William H. Wannamaker Professor of Romance Studies in Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Literature at Duke University and is the author and editor of several books, including The Darker Side of Western Modernity: Global Futures, Decolonial Options, also published by Duke University Press.  Catherine E. Walsh is Senior Professor in the Area of Humanities and Cultural Studies at the Universidad Andina SimÓn BolÍvar in Ecuador and the author and editor of numerous books, most recently, PedagogÍas decoloniales: PrÁcticas insurgentes de resistir, (re)existir y (re)vivir, Tomo II.

Acknowledgments  ix Introduction  1 I. Decoloniality In/As Praxis / Catherine E. Walsh 1. The Decolonial For: Resurgences, Shifts, and Movements  15 2. Insurgency and Decolonial Prospect, Praxis, and Project  33 3. Interculturality and Decoloniality  57 4. On Decolonial Dangers, Decolonial Cracks, and Decolonial Pedagogies Rising  81 Conclusion: Sowing and Growing Decoloniality in/as Praxis: Some Final Thoughts  99 II. The Decolonial Option / Walter D. Mignolo 5. What Does It Mean to Decolonize?  105 6. The Conceptual Triad: Modernity/Coloniality/Decoloniality  135 7. The Invention of the Human and the Three Pillars of the Colonial Matrix of Power (Racism, Sexism, and Nature)  153 8. Colonial/Imperial Differences: Classifying and Inventing Global Orders of Lands, Seas, and Living Organisms  177 9. Eurocentrism and Coloniality: The Question of the Totality of Knowledge  194 10. Decoloniality Is an Option, Not a Mission  211 Concluding Remarks: Colonial Wounds, Decolonial Healings, Re-existences, Resurgences  227 After-Word(s)  245 Bibliography  259 Index  279