Walter Mignolo: Coloniality: The past and present of global unjustice

Walter Mignolo, discusses essential issues of polycentrism and collaboration in post-coloniality:

(excerpt)

“”Hegemony, in a polycentric world, would require of pluriversality to a universal principle–an apparent contradiction that deserves careful attention. If the principle of pluri-versality is uni-versaly (that is, globally) assumed, then dialogues and alliances of civilizations—instead of competitions between imperial nation-states and dependency of small nation-states—would be “natural” to cooperate instead of competing in international relations. The goals, in a polycentric and pluri-versal world order would be to administer scarcity rather than promote development and to promote harmony instead of competing for natural resources and growth; the philosophy guiding such global plan would be cooperation rather than competition, harmony instead of war. Progressive historians are instrumental in illuminating what has been obscured by conservative and imperial histories. But History is extremely limited in relation to the richness of the world and the communities for whom Memories is not an academic discipline but a way of being in the world, of building, maintaining and transmitting identity and consolidating identities that imperial histories taught them to despise. Oral traditions and transmissions, art and literature and communal way of living are sites of living Memories that cannot be controlled by the discipline of History. Memories, as I said, exceed History. Memories have been silenced by hegemony Histories. To decolonize History means to liberate Memories an to correct epistemic un-justices. [3]”

Full article here:

http://waltermignolo.com/2012/11/21/coloniality-the-past-and-present-of-global-unjustice/

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