The Peruvian sociologist Aníbal Quijano is widely considered to be a foundational figure of the decolonial perspective grounded in three basic concepts: coloniality, coloniality of power, and the colonial matrix of power. His decolonial theorizations of these three concepts have transformed the principles and assumptions of the very idea of knowledge, impacted the social sciences and humanities, and questioned the myth of rationality in natural sciences. The essays in this volume encompass nearly thirty years of Quijano’s work, bringing them to an English-reading audience for the first time. This volume is not simply an introduction to Quijano’s work; it achieves one of his unfulfilled goals: to write a book that contains his main hypotheses, concepts, and arguments. In this regard, the collection encourages a fuller understanding and broader implementation of the analyses and concepts that he developed over the course of his long career. Moreover, it demonstrates that the tools for reading and dismantling coloniality originated outside the academy in Latin America and the former Third World.

Aníbal Quijano (1928–2018) was a renowned Peruvian sociologist and theorist and the author of numerous books.

Walter D. Mignolo is William H. Wannamaker Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Romance Studies and Professor of Literature at Duke University.

Rita Segato is Professor Emerita in Bioethics and Human Rights at the University of Brasilia.

Catherine E. Walsh is Professor Emerita at the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar.

Introduction / Catherine E. Walsh, Walter D. Mignolo, and Rita Segato 1
1. Paradoxes of Modernity in Latin America  32
2. The Aesthetic of Utopia  64
3. Coloniality and Modernity/Rationality  73
4. Questioning “Race”  85
5. Coloniality of Power and Social Classification  95
6. The Return of the Future and Questions about Knowledge  132
7. Coloniality of Power, Globalization, and Democracy  146
8. The New Anticapitalist Imaginary  188
9. Don Quixote and the Windmills in Latin America  204
10. The “Indigenous Movement” and Unresolved Questions in Latin America  229
11. Coloniality of Power, Eurocentrism, and Latin America  256
12. Coloniality of Power and De/Coloniality of Power  303
13. Thirty Years Later: Another Reunion: Notes for Another Debate  317
14. The Crisis of the Colonial/Modern/Eurocentred Horizon of Meaning  331
15. Latin America: Toward a New Historical Meaning  347
16. Coloniality of Power and Subjectivity in Latin America  361
17. “Bien Vivir”: Between “Development” and the De/Coloniality of Power  379
18. Labor  392
19. Notes on the Decoloniality of Power  411
20. Modernity, Capital, and Latin America Were Born the Same Day: Interview by Nora Velarde  418
Bibliography  443
Index  457