Colonialidad del poder e historia global : cuestiones abiertas (Homenaje a Aníbal Quijano)

Abstract

This paper presents two arguments. The first suggests that Aníbal Quijano maybe considered the last great Latin American theorist of the 20th century. This is argued from the point of view that looks at his theory of the “coloniality of power” as the most original synthesis to date of the different schools and problems of the Latin American critical thought. On the other hand, the second argument poses a set of open questions regarding the historical-conceptual architecture of “coloniality” conceived as a “new model of power of global vocation”. This is argued in the light of fresh interpretations advanced in various works of global history and macro-historical sociology about European world expansion. This part also casts some doubts of its validity in the light of the current trends in the global political economy of capitalism. My aim is to reopen the discussion about the depth and scope of “coloniality” and its “root crisis” in a theoretical perspective that is not Eurocen-tric, but at the same time is genuinely historical and global.