Mignolo - Prophets Facing Sidewise - The Geopolitics of Knowledge and the Colonial Difference

7/27/2019 Mignolo - Prophets Facing Sidewise - The Geopolitics of Knowledge and the Colonial Difference

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Prophets Facing Sidewise: TGl f Kl Cl Dff

Walter D Mignolo

There is no safe place and no single locus of enunciation from where the uni-versal couldbe articulated for all and forever. Hindu nationalism and Western neo-liberalism areentangled in a long history of the logic of coloniali (domination, oppression, exploitation)hidden under the rhetoric of modernity (salvation, civilization, progress, development,eedom and democracy). There are, however, needs and possibilities for Indians and Western progressive intellectuals working together to undermine and supersede the assumptionsthat liberal thinkers in the West are better placed to understand what is the common good

better than Indian thinkers in postpartition India. Science, in the last analysis, doesn'tcarry in itself an ethics and politics. Therefore, it is doubul to argue that science is beyondboth, and only concerned with the advancement of the frontier of knowledge and under

standing. Science could be (like Christianity, Hinduism, Liberalism or Marxism) bothimperial and liberating. Knowledge and understanding, rather than science; gnoseologyrather than epistemology, should be thought out as which the horizon toward a dialogicaland critical cosmopolitanism (e.g., pluriversallity as universal project), could be envisionedbeyond East and West, Hindu nationalism and Westertn (neo) liberalism

Keywords: Coloniality; Coloniality of knowledge Border thinking; Abstract universals;Pluriversality as universal project; Critical cosmopolitanism

rofeor eera anda Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Scienceand Hindu Nationalism in India confront a problem that baed on the hitory ofndia i common to coloniality the hidden ide of modernity The problem and theentanglement cold be mmarized a follow the potmodern critiqe of cience in

rope and in the nited State (from Feyerabend and Khn to the gender dimenionin cience and epitemology raied by Haraway Harding and Alcoff among other

Correspondence to Waer D Mignolo, Duke Unvesy Insttue for Globa Studes n Humanes, Depameno Romane Studes, 224 Fankln Cener, Durham NC 27708-0413, USA

ISSN 02691728 (pnt)/SSN 4645297 (onlne) 2005 Taylo ans Group Ltd: 10.1080/02691720500084325


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coincide with the critiqe of cience in India enacted by Hind nationalim herefore what eem "progreive within the local hitory of the "modern et trn ot

to be traightforwardly conervative in the "traditional at or nonet am overimpliing the argment for the need to be brief in thi context However what

wold like to emphaize i the "entanglement between two (in thi cae local hitorie that of roAmerica and that of India modernity/coloniality he fondationof the Atlantic world economy in the ixteenth centry and of what wold later becomeetern hegemony aer the eighteenth centry ha been gronded in the eective linkbetween modernity and it darker ide coloniality From the roAmerican perpective (and by that mean a conceptal trctre gled together by a ytem of belief thatallowed for the claication ranking and knowing of the world the logic of coloniality i inviible a it i digied by the light of modernity progreive miion herhetoric of modernity i baed on a logic that i elfjtied and elfatiing it i to

deliver freedom and progrealvationto the ret of the world Bt for that tohappen omeone ha to ffer the coneqence and thi i how the logic of colonialityha haped the modern/colonial world

hat happen when yo change the gaze and look not from the perpective ofempire and the rhetoric of modernity bt from the coneqence of the logic of colo

niality and the pain ering devalation and exploitation of hman being? hereare indeed many reaction ome critical other extremit and till other complacenthe complacent project of the "native promoter who want to "go modern gohandinhand in the trctre of the modern/colonial world with the "native diident who want to "remain native h while coloniality i the hidden logiccovered p by the rhetoric of modernity modernity i preented a the point of arrivalof the colonial world before and aer independence ndependence changed the actorsbt not the script. hi chronological ditinction (before and aer independence iirrelevant to the logic of colonialitythat operate in dierent manner bt doent goaway a the contittive companion of modernity hi i in a nthell the crcial ieaddreed by anda by howing the complicitie between potmodern critiqe ofcience in the et the ndian Le and Hind ationalim

f the ie involved in the fact that coloniality i contittive of modernity are todayof worldwide import and aect all phere of life (from bjectivity to military intervention and bilding of ocaed a a reaction to overpowering (eaponof emocratic romotion from political theory to political economy from ethic andhman right to free trade of drg and hman organ anda foce on the qetionof knowledge and cience and it political and ethical implication And the implication are clear in anda detailed cholarly gronded and biographically motivatedtdy hich one are they? hee implication are articlated throgh the bookfocing on the Indian Le and Hind ationalim Here i a paragraph in which

anda lay ot the problematic poition adopted by the Le throgh the examinationof ome of Ahi andy (and aociate argment

Nandy and associates argued that because he Western philosopher and socia criticsthemseves were rejecing modern science as epistemoogicaly privileged, Indians whowen around signing statements of scienic temper were dupes and foos. The gis of the


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argument was is: Pos-osiiis citics among wom Herbet Marcuse Paul Feyeraben an Tomas Kun came in o secia mention ae alreay "roe tat scienceoes not an cannot conon ogmas because science needs ogmas (eg araigms) inorer o o is wok [ A society ike Inia on te eiery o te wo neee tootec iself rom aer tan culiae te egemony of science 3

Thereyo have it in a nthell the two type of critiqe of cience: internal to impe

rial knowledge (Feyerabend etc and from dependency relation (here in the phere of

knowledge ceated by the colonial difference Here the qetion i then how to get otof thi dilemma

anda propoal tart from her conviction that ch "cltral relativization ofneed i challenged by Amartya Sen and arta bam in their capabilitieapproach to hman nctioning 4 ore pecically anda explain

te bles ehs is base uon a l unesls tat ols a set of basic umancaabilities as ininsicaly wortwie fo louising uman ife wile amiting tattese caabities may be exesse ierently in ieent cutures an ieren istoricaeocs Amatya Sen ols ta "ersona ineress an wefare ae not just maters oerceion; hee e bjee ses f hese nes h nd enn een whenhe esndng seeen des n exs" (Sen) Two leels of uman caabilitiessee as te obectie cieia or uging weter or not any society can be sai to be dlping or rgrssng Te irst ee sets te goun loo or a ie tat is suitable foumans as a secies istinc om oter animals an inclues boiy caacities like aoiing unger an tirst an inclues e isinctiey uman trais like umo an lay ante abiliy to reason an make moal ugmens Te next leel escibes caabilities tat

make a uman ie agd lie Tese caabiliies inclue or instance te abiliy to "imagine to tink an to eason an te ability fo critical eecion an cucially fo womene abiliy to "lie one's own life an noboy elses (Nussbaum) 5

anda begin the next paragraph with a diclaimer "Contrary to Shiva and iebam and Sen believe that it i both poible and deirable to move all peopleeverywhere above the threhold for a good life dened in term of capabilitie 6.Here we have the crx of the argment illtrated by the poition of Shiva andandy in ndia and bam and Sen in the United State ho i in the "rightpoition to "move people withot the conent of people to be moved? the deignto move raqi people to "democracy poible and deirable? Geohitorical locationin the modern/colonial world go together with an entire bjectivity formation with

knowledge and kin (in Fanon ene within imperial contrie a well a in theircolonie or excolonie anda bjective formation a he explain in the prologei haped while following cloely both intellectally and emotionaly the debate over

cience in ndia and later in her life in the United State the potmodern critiqe ofence

Upon reection on both experience anda ee in Sen and bam the arg

ment that people hold be moved above the threhold of a good life baed on theuniversalityof human capabilities ith all de repect for Sen and bam wellarged opinion why hold one agree that what theybelieve wold indeed be univer

sallydeirable and accepted by all hman being? Sen and bam denition ofhman capabilitie i clearly gronded in the intrmental concept of reaon Only a


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comology that operate on the principle of prot production and accumulationcould make of hman capailities a baic univeral principle f you are a Black AoCaribbean and a critical mind like Sen and ubaum you would not begin by making

ofhman capailities a univeral principle or ay that humanity i dened once and

for all by the detachment of men from nature Certainly that i very much groundedin uropean modernity in political theory a well a in political economy-civlizationa detachment from nature economic production a exploitation of nature and

human being a "free entitie to decide their live independent of the politicaleconomic tructure and the hegemonic ytem of value that etablihe what contitute agd life A critical AfroCaribbean mind (a critical a a white S feminit andan ndian economit who embraced liberal principle in both political theory and political economy would certainy twit that principe in two direction The rt wouldbe to challenge the idea that hman capailities are univeral and manifet themelve

dierently in dierent tradition a the multicultural argument reproduced by andawould have it And the econd i that the idea of humanity being dened by it detachment from nature doent bode well with the Black population who themelve havebeen dened in the modern/coloial world by their proximity to nature and theirinferior humanity

he idea that humanity i univerally dened by it eparation from nature rtemerged in eventeenthcentury urope and developed in tandem with the indutrial

revoution a the appropriation of land increaed accompanied by the increaing

demand for natural reource ven when Aritotle conceived human being a"rational animal he wa not necearily dening humanity in oppoition or incontraditinction to nature The entire ndigenou movement today in the Americaand in Autralaia conceive humanity a they have alway conceived it on the baiof a dierent logic nature is life the energy that generate and maintain life andhumanity i not dierent and separte frm natre but an integral part of it ithinthe cope of hi hort article can only tate that thee principle are accepted byindigenou men and women alike a they know baed on their own experiencerationality and creativity that they want to live their own live and not omeone

ele (not even ubaum) Of coure not all white women in the nited Stateand urope reach the critical point of becoming aware of their right; and of courenot all indigenou women are lave jut becaue they are indigenou and womenQuite the contrary there are many among them who do not need ubaum andSen principle of capability to realize what right and freedom are o believe thatubaum and Sen (with all due repect to their work) two baic principle(human eparated from nature and being all equal in their capabilitie are univerally valid beyond the comology on which they are baed mean to accept an imperial view of goodne And it i only the imperial rationality hidden under the

rhetoric of happine for all that jutie anda upport for ubaum and Senpoition according to which they "beieve that it i both poible and deirable tomoe a peple everywhere above the threhold for a good life dened in term ofcapabilitie Once again who decide what i a good life for whom? ho mves all

peple to goodne?


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One of anda rong argumen again Shiva and andy and he Indian Le i haheir argumen and criique of eern cience played ino he hand of Hindu aion

alim and i defene of Vedic Science I would like o re ha Shiva and andy areno upporer of Hindu aionalim bu ha heir criique of eern imperialimruns parallel o Hindu aionali criique of India eernizaion One amongmany example from andy

Th litat f th ltaHnd natnast g f instanc is lt wth xhtatins t imv th Hinds scialy maly and sychgicaly Ths imvmnt sinvaably dnd accding t th vals thwn by th xinc f th Hnddfat in th hands f th nn-Hinds: had discin masclinty imls cntlw and natinasm gad t lpol En whn h hon Indn s ls poson hby n o n o h n wmh of n dlzd ps nd n

dlzd mohlnd, wh h pojs no h ps nd no h onp of h non nohn oh hn onnonl sn mddllss ls 8

A for Vandana Shiva one could ay ha even if ome of anda criicim are juiedShiva canno be reduced o her poiion in "ecofeminim n oher work uch a TheMonoculure of he Mind (1992) and Solen Hares The Hijacking of he Global FoodSuppl (2000), Shiva ha been conienly denouncing and revealingbaed on heparicular experience of neoliberalim in India-he rheoric of moderniy under whichhe logic of colonialiy coninue o increae he number of he "wreched of he earha Franz Fanon had i ow le aume ha in spie ofha (and no because o omeof andy and Shiva argumen could play ino he hand of Hindu aionali argumen f we chooe ha line of argumenaion i would be eay o how ha ome ofubaum and Sen argumen a well play righ ino he hand of eoliberal agenda

ha do mean by eoLiberalim? Briely he idea ha he marke hould be hepoin of reference for he organizaion of ociey and in order o value human capabiliie rade union hould be eliminaed and ciizen vialiy and ocial live diminihedo heir ncion olely a human reource and labor provider Thee are ome ofhe principle of eoliberal civilizing ideal hey preuppoe preciely he uniersali

of human capabiliies ore pecically ome of he baic eoliberal principle (hawe can compare wih hoe of Hindu aionalim are baed on he rheoric of moderni, which in he ixeenh and eveneenh cenurie mainly conied of converiona alvaion Since he nineeenh cenury alvaion ha been ariculaed oenibly obenef civilizaion and increaingly o rher progre hu according o he eoliberal creed uained economic growh i he be way o inure human progre Thequeion i: why hould we aume ha "progre dened a uch i neceary forhuman happine and he good life? The marke in eoliberal global deign ha o befree and funcion wihou inerference from he Sae in order o inure ha economic

globaliaion be benecial o everone Accordingly governmen hould mainly ncion o provide he infrarucure o advance he rule of law wih repec o properyrigh and conrac n oher word and in he word ha anda derive fromubaum and Sen "i i boh poible and deirable o move allpeople everyhereabove he hrehold for a good life dened in erm of capabiliie oday i i eo


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116 W D. Mig

liberalim that i the main agent moving people in and out of the ervice of globalization. ntead of "moving all people everywhere above the threhold for a good lifewhich i the rhtori of modi atuaizd by Noibra prinips, what we have aVandana Shiva argued 9, are increaing war increaing marginalization and povery

increaing genocide in Africa a return to totalitarian regime forced by the brutalentry of eoliberal religion of the market in Ruia and the increaing violence of theash of iviizations announced by Samuel Huntington (1995. Thu the quetionraied by anda i relevant and not only for India It i a quetion valid for the entire

world a here i an increaing ompii (forced or volunary) between eoliberalagent in urope and the nited State and local upporter and defender of eoliberalim in the ret of the world. On the other hand there are increaing mixed reaction and oppoition to the univeral creed that progre li poverty and that war ineceary to generate freedom around the world Thee "move move in two direc

tion On the one hand religiou ndamentalim react to the impoition of marketndamentalim and imperial State terrorim enact the movement of peopleupported by the law of the State (itelf backed up by military force) On the otherhand progreive intellectual like Shiva andy ubaum and Sen a well a variou ocial movement increaing in number-albeit with dierent agenda-can coordinate compatible move and make "poible and deirable production of otheralternative fruitful dialogue Thi hould be poible once the pretene of a univrsatruth that i right and good for everyone give way to conception ofpurivrsa needand interet political project and ethical commitment to creating a world in which

many world could coexit rather than toward one world in which many worldwould ubit

Of coure have not been implying that ubaum and Sen are eoliberal neitheram I uggeting that Shiva and andy are Hindu ationalit Rather what am ayingi that ubaum and Sen on the one hand and Shiva and andy on the other mayhave ompmnta agenda between them a progreive intellectual in differentlocale of the geopolitical ditribution of inteectual labor All of them can be criticized on the ground that their poition upport either the univeral totalitarian beliefthat ground. eoliberal agenda or the nativit totalitarian belief that hold up Hinduationalit agenda. Thu what am trying to argue i that while Shiva and andy arehelpful in critiquing eoliberal principle under the feet of ubaum and Senubaum and Sen are alo helpl in that they can be ued for critiquing the Hinduationalit principle under the feet of Shiva and andy A p uritopical criique i ofthe eence if one want to move away om the cage created by modern epitemologyand the naturalization of invented dichotomie which have reulted in oppoing ndamentalim the global fundamentalim of the market (ie eoliberal civilization) andthe emergence of variegated religiou ndamentalim (Chritian lamic Hindu)

Geohitorical location and biographical experience are not taken here a multicultural manifetation of ome univeral principle but on he conrary a the geohitorical ditribution of knowledge that the logic of coloniality enacted and naturalized. Colonization i a proce that to be operative and effective need to create thecolonial difference in the domain of kowledge and in the domain of being: "I am not


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thinking therefore do not exit i a formla of imperial deign intilled among thedominated poplation throgh niveritie media and all other form of commnication

f a dialoge between mltiple project that are moving toward another globalization

can take place in order to change the coloniality of knowledge and of being (omethingthat cholar intelectal activit media people can do it wold be nder theamption that many people arond the world (for example Shiva and andy in ndiaShariati in ran Yainne in orocco el in Argentina Haraway and Hardy Sen andbam in the nited State etc are qetioning cience and eoliberalim in light

of their complicity with imperial global deign Science cannot be meared and evalated by the conceptal trctre of cientic theorie nor by eqating them with acredbelief (which wa Feyerabend and Khn grondbreaking contribtion bt by

looking at the complicity between cientic reearch that ignore colonization exploitation and devalation of life both hman and nonhman (which i one of Shivacontribtion n all thee cae the common grond i the critiqe of modernity fromthe perpective of coloniality a relentle critiqe of al form of colonization of know-edge and being inclding cience ince cience became a colonizing tool that help andrther accmlation of capital at the expene of hman live rather than being anapparat that contet it Can we realy call it "progre when ve hman being jobare eliminated becae there i now one machine that can do it al and the ocietyprovide no job replacement for thoe who lot their mean of bitence? To claimniverality for particlar idea a anda doe ing bam and Sen mean to fallback into the amption that there are certain abtract niveral (liberal Chritianarxit lim that are better than other And ch claim regardle of who makethem and from what geohitorical and biographical location have alway been the eedof a totalitarian detiny

Let remember the two baic principle that anda derive from Sen and bamto jdge whether a ociety i regressingorrogressing

Two lees of huma capabities sere as the obectie criteria for udgig whether or otay society ca be said to be deelopng or egessing The rst ee sets the groud oor

for a life that is suitable for humas as a species distict from other aimals ad icludesbodily capacities ike aoidig huger ad thirst ad icudes the distictiely humatraits le humor ad play ad the ability to reaso ad make moral judgmets The extleel describes capabilities that mae a huma ife agood ife These capabilities icude foristace the abiity to imagie to thik ad to reaso ad the abiity for critical relectio ad crucially for wome the ability to "ie oe's ow life ad obody eses 1

Firt of all what contitte agood life and whether a ociety i develoingor regressingare not only particlar point of view baed on the criteria that hman ditingihthemelve from natre bt above all are alo particar tatement that do not pae

to evalate that their own particlarity i being amed a niveral f at thi point inhitory one ame criteria ch a the one anda derive from bam and Sena niveral one i indeed regressingin the ene that it i amed there i only one et

of criteria that name the niveral and etablihe what i progre what i tagnationand what i a good life


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118 D noo

Some of and a criticim of Shiva and ie on ecofeminim are wel taken n thecae of Shiva it wod be necear to ditingih from the ret her ometime exceive linking of earth and womanhood from where he derive many of her conclionHowever there are other criticim that deerve more crtiny becae they reveal

ome of and a amption that are not only different bt mainly contrary to ShivaFor example anda take on Shiva amption that "bitence economie were theoriginal aent ocietie in the ene that bitence economie took care of "baicvital need of their member The problem i for anda that Shiva dene the natreof baic need and the level at which they cold be atied by "cltra norm alone:

By so lativizin nds Shiva is abl to loss ov so i facts bhind h chclbatd "anc of nonWstn aicta systs Th fact [is] fo xap thatsbsistnc conois did not (and still do not) spply al th ntitional nds of al thbs at v that is bioloicay adqat fo aintainin basic capabiitis 12

anda conter ch "ctral relativization of need with the challenge he nd inAmartya Sen and artha bam in their "capabilitie approach to hmannctioning The "capabiitie approach i baed on a treediagram that derive andpread cltral dierence from a nivera principle Th

Th capabilitis thics is basd pon a l unelm" that hods a st of basichan capabiitis as nnlly wothwhl fo a loishin han if whi adittinthat ths capablitis ay b xpssd diffntly in diffnt cts and dinthistoica pochs 13

The logic of "critical niveraim i the ogic that need and tain "mlticltraim That i mlticltraim i accepted a a matter of fact on the amption thatthere are some unersa prncpes from which cutura derences emerge in variogeographical location and hitorical epoch Bt reay who can ay beyond God [anyGod] or any grop of hman being who pretend to take the place of God in a eclarform what "nivera principle are? y own poition tart from the premie of anethic baed on crtca cosmopotansm14 and critical comopolitanim begin with therecognition of the "epitemic colonial difference againt which Shiva and andy havebeen trggling and contine to do o; whie for Sen and bam the epitemic colonial dierence i ot of their ight that i preciely what " critical niveralim meanblindne to the colonial dierence and coneqently the poibility of conceiving ofcritical comopolitanim to erae the colonial epitemic dierence Bt what doe theepitemic colonial difference mean? t mean that ince the ixteenth centr ntil today knowledge that have not been cat in ome of the modern ropean imperiallangage (taian Spanih and ortgee in the rt wave of colonial expanionFrench nglih and German in the econd wave ince the eighteenth centrygronded in Greek and Latin were not and are not tainable knowledge Thereforeeven if one recognize that ometime Shiva or andy rn the rik of pporting dbio

nationait poition one hall not fail to recognize that they are trggling in the vioentepitemic border created by the colonia epitemic dierence that i what make theeential dierence in the modern/coonial world and what moes the ytem-the hegemonic concept of knowedge (eg politica theory poitical economy expertie in


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Social Epieology 9

agrculture and deforetaton n pharmaceutcal product etc) On the other handSen and ubaum blndne to the colonal eptemc dfference (of whch "crtcalunveralm but a conequence) put them at rk of upportng ndamentalt poton n power today under the name of eolberal phloophy and cvlzaton for

whch "crtcal unveralm far from beng a challenge and even le a threatThe queton that there a geopoltcal pace of knowledge that rofeor anda

overlook n her reettng of the dchotomy "modernty v natvm That beng ad take her outtandng contrbuton to be the lnk he etablhe between potmodernand femnt crtque of cence n the nted State (Haraway Hardng etc) and thematchng of th crtque wth thoe enacted by Hndu natonalt However nbetween there the colonal eptemc derence that overlooked Or f you do notwant to re t let ay that n my vocabulary that colonal derence() and colonal

dfferental() are ntance of the ame phenomenon that organze the modern/colo

nal world f modernty le alone wthout t conttutve dark de coloniali thenthere no other alternatve that conceve ocety and htory n the lnear tme ofprogre. That why for anda the "prophet are lookng backward n whch "back(whch patal) ha the temporal connotaton that "prmtve ha for exampleacqured n the eghteenth century f we brng colonalty nto the pcture and underlne the iulaneiyof htore around the world then "modernty and "natvmare oppoed content of the ae logc: the logic of colonialiy.

There are two evel n anda argument that have been playng out n my prevoucomment One the pecc argument that relate potmodern crtque of cencen the et to the ndan Le and to Hndu atonalm The other the more generaland more global whch lnk cence and technology-wllngly or not-to mperalglobal degn A cae n pont orbert ener unquetonable leadng gure n theemergence of the ew Scence for h contrbuton to "cybernetc (the control of and

communcaton n anmal and machne) Two year aer the publcaton of h emnal work ener publhed a followup The Huan Ue of Huan Being yberneicand Sociey(1950) n whch he denounced the ue of cence for the control domnaton and explotaton of human lfe rather than for mprovement of t Very famlarndeed nowaday-although ener not exactly a famlar name n the crcut ofNN the New Yor Tie Newwee Alanic Monhly or BS. And the reaon thatthe defender of the "marvel of cence (and not ntereted n talkng about margnalzaton explotaton domnaton colonzaton dpenablty of human lfe-n waror n pharmaceutcal bune) who recognzed ener a a mathematcal genu whlehuttng hm down a a crtcal thnker of captalt ocety One example of ener

defamaton wa the prole of hm that h eneme were able to tranform nto an eectve clch The defamaton had hm a a great mathematcan but a lttle bt eccentrchen ener ued to talk about ocety and the ethcal reponblty of the centccommunty-a topc that wa beyond h "area of experte he could not be taken erouly15 hch how that the centt could go one of two way ether unconcouly


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0 D. Minoo

pport the dominant ytem (which for ve hndred year ha been capitalim accom

panied by a rhetoric of alvation Chritian a well a eclar or owingly remainilent regarding the growing injtice exploitation colonization etc that the prodct

of cience are being ed for Sre cientic advance in medicine ave hman live a

one conterargment goe Sre bt for each hman life aved in the highincomebracket hndred if not thoand of live are lot in the growing margin of capitaliteconomie and 90% percent of the planet poplation i living in inhman conditionn mmary with all the advance of cience there i a ilence abot the "totality ofthe ytem-the viible ccefl rhetoric of modernity and the inviible exploitativeand inhman logic of coloniality which i eential to inre the "cce-that i"growing progre and increaing poverty to e the formla of S political economit Henry George In what follow wold like to ph forward thi general apectimplied in anda critiqe beyond the particlar cae he examine in ndia and it

entanglement with the et (baically ince the eighteenth centry ngland and in thehadow Germany France and the nited State

A I ggeted before the problem today i not Hind ationalim againt Chritian

and (eo Liberal fndamentalim (and we cold add lamic bt how to imagineand practice critical theorie and how to engage in and advance ethical epitemicpolitical and economic project that will help "move (together and not by omeabtract deign to the terrain of critical comopolitanim and dialogical ethic n thiregard Shiva and andy on the one hand and Sen and bam on the otherhold not be een-or confronted-a mtal "enemie One hold not e onepair to chatie the other bt rather they hold be een a complementing each otherin a plriveral global cae in which neither Sen and bam nor Shiva and andyhave the lat word on how to etablih a niveral oltion or to jdge and plan thetre of the world f they did critical niveralim wold be bt a different form ofndamentalim ince there i only one (ni way the onyway Sen and bampoition are a regional and provincial a Shiva and andy he dierence i thatthe former are piggybacking on the etern pretene of niverality (in thi particlarcae the liberal verion of it while the latter are trggling with the violence of imperialdeign exported to ndia and all over the world In other word there are local hitorie that have the privilege to invent and export global (imperial deign and there are

local hitorie that have to live with them Sen and bam are located in the rtpace Shiva and andy in the econd

hat are the way ot? ell that will be and already i a collective enterprie in themaking I wold like to propoe epistemic deinkinga the rt tep of a global movetoward puri-versaity as a universa project-and thi i where critical theory anddecolonization will prevail over the relt of cience he example of orbert ienerhold remind that the cientit ethical and political concern hold have priority

over hi or her cientic contribtion Bt a iener adverarie demontrate thoewho e cience nethicaly at the expene of the oodness of ociety in general willkeep on ghting to retain their privilege in ngland India the nited State ndoneia etc he qetion goe beyond niveralim v ativim he qetion i to worktoward epistemic deinkin that i toward fractring the natralization of the two


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122 W D Mignolo

the violence of building a nation with the wounds of colonial legacies Their struggle iswithin the oppressive aspects of Liberalism and within the estern tradition

The rst step for delinking woud be then to recognize the regional positions(ie historical sociologica institutional race and genderbased) in which both Shiva

and Nand on one hand and Sen and Nussbaum on the other are thinking and arguing To accomplish the rst step it would be necessar to shi the geography and thebiography of reason and to operate on the principle that knowledge is geo and biopolitical constituted That is geopolitics of knowledges derives from loca experiences (as science derives from ocal experiences of estern capitalist countries) inwhich the geohistorica aspect accounts for the tension negotiation and violence inal the terrains touched b estern colonial expansion; while the biopolitical accountsfor the experiences needs angers interests and critical acumen of the "scientist orcritical intelectual who feels in her or his bod the colonial matrix of power and trans

lates it into conceptua anasis and arguments toward the decolonization of knowledge (that is one of the ndamental components of the colonial matrix of power)eminist epistemolog countering the patriarchal foundation of nowledge goes handinhand with the color of reason as Nigerian philosopher mmanuelle huckwudize labelled the racist underpinning of Immanuel Kants universalism7

onsequentl instead of assuming that nowledge and reason derive from thedictates of God the sovereignt of the go (knowing subject) or the pure rationalit ofOrganization as the New Sciences have it in which the organization of knowledge andthe knowedge of organization setting a new stage in which "organization and complex

it takes over Newtons law of nature and establishes a new epistemic model geo andbiopolitical locations assume the ocal histories (marked b the epistemic colonialdierence) of the knowing subject local histories that have been denied b the defenders of the universait of estern science and phiosoph Toda instead both inurope and the United States the epistemic colonia difference is no longer "downthere but up here; a reait that makes more visible the universal blindness ofNandas critique and her endorsement of Nussbaum and Sens "critical universalism

In the previous paragraph I outlined the conditions for epistemic delinng How tomove forward to the next step Once again this is a collective enterprise but fortunatel it is not necessar to invent the steps because some are alread in place and thecontinue to grow al around the world Let me give ou some examples Nands andShivas work have at least two faces one that Nanda sees at risk of supporting HinduNationalism and the other moving toward epistemic deinking; that is in opening upspaces of knowledge that are not caught in the four visible metanarratives of uropeanmodernit hristianit in its atholic and Protestant versions; Secular onservatism(linked to hristianit) Liberalism and Socialism/Marxism and their correspondingneo versions-the latter two being explicitl against hristianit

Sen and Nussbaum are located within the variegated versions of Liberal metanarratives and their valuable critique is crucial within those limits It would be nave

to believe that their critiques have to be revealing and illuminating for progressive Indians and Muslim intelectuals and activists One could sa that Sen woud be as relevantto Nand or to Mohammed AlJabri as Nand and AJabri would be to Sen; examples


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Soal emoloy 23

could be ound also or the case o Nussbaum Shia and Nandy emerge rom theirexperiences and locations at the crossroads (or epistemic border) between the colonial

matrix o power operating in ndia since late eighteenth century and the siencedmemories and categories o knowledge that the colonial matrix o power (by British

ocers and intellectuals as well as by the complicit ndian elite) attempted to eraseHoweer as Ranahit uha would say "here was one ndian battle that Britain neerwon t was a battle or the appropriation o ndian past t began with the East ndiaCompanys accession to diwani in 78

Peope are proud o declaring themsees Christians Liberals or Socialists/Marxists

No one or just a ew (with reluctance or sometimes lightly) would declare themselesproud o being imperialists/colonialists But o course colonialists hae been and areChristians Conseraties Liberals and Socialists/Marxists which o course doesntmean that eer Christian Liberal Sociaist/Marxist is a colonialist hat it means is

that in the ast analysis Christianity Secular Conseratism Liberalism and Socialism/Marxism (as well as slamism or Hinduism) are not a warranty o anything and thereore iberating projects could emerge rom any o them (one within Liberalism is illustrated by Nussbaum and Sen); but totalitarian and ndamentalist projects can alsoemerge rom the same ideologies as histor tells us History has plenty o examples oChristian Liberal and Marxist totaitarianism as well o course o totalitarian regimesgrounded in slamic ideas (which doesnt mean once again that slamism and ndamentalism are one and the same) By the same token Hindu Nationalism doesnt meanthat undamentalism is the only road you can go i you declare yoursel a Hindu

colonialism is the inisible companion o any o the modern metanarraties (icoloniality goes together with modernity) there is still a whole and entire world beyondthe totalizing eect o the our modern metanarraties and their ideological and inisible companion And that enormous epistemic space that imperial/colonial expansionsilenced and continues to silence or ignore-justied in the rhetoric o democracyeedom modernization deelopment and what hae you-the space o repressedepistemologies which today oers to indiiduals and communities whose subjectiityhas been ormed in the borders and in the tension o the epistemic colonial dierencethe distinctie possibility o delinking he act that Hindu Nationalism made its case

by rejecting estern and promoting Vedic science doesnt mean that this is the onlyway to argue rom a Hindu position: the domain o knowledge that could be generatedby reinesting Vedic epistemic principles doesnt hae to be justied in terms o therules o the game imposed by the est and doesnt hae to a into the trap o haingto arm that there is a Vedic science preerable to estern science he challenge andthe threat is rst to argue rom Vedic epistemological perspectie that the concept oscience articulated in European modernity is ne and good but that its uniersal claimdoes not correspond to the law o the cosmos! Furthermore i you reject Newtonianphysics and replace it by the nonteleological iew o chaos theor and the new

sciences still the iew o the cosmos that emerges rom it is ar rom correspondingone to one with the cosmos itsel t is a iew built on a "tradition the modernEuropean tradition that began with Copernicuss breakthrough and olowed by alileoVedic and slamic knowledges-as well as ndigenous knowledges in the Americas and


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24 D noo

Australasia-are today i the proess o beig reivested all aroud the world But oourse oe o these kowledges ad oe o the origial laguages i whih thesekowledges are embedded a survive by themselves Reivestig Vedi or digeous kowledges today meas to do it i dialogue (sometimes riedly sometimes

ootatioal) with ester ategories o thought (remember grouded i Greek orati laguages ad traslated ito the three moder laguages o "serious kowledge-Freh Germa ad Eglish) Reivestig meas also to hage the perspe

tive (to hage it ad ot to ivert it) Chagig but ot ivertig perspetives brigsas a osequee bordr pistmology a epistemology o the border rom the perspetive o what has bee deied ad the possibility o oeptual delikig Borderepistemology is a powerl oe or the simple reaso that it is based o the oe hado the ritial examiatio o oester laguages ad traditions ad o the othero the ritial examiatio o ester laguages ad traditions. Bordr pistmology

prsupposs a doubl critiqu (o Shiva ad Nussbaum or example as well as Nadyad Se) a double ritique that a trased the modrn/olonial structur adotribute to move ltoward a transmodrn world At that poit "ritial osmopolitaism a oly be prediated o pluriversality (ad ot o uiversality) Pluriversalit as a uiversal projet would help i uouplig the oepts ad strutures osieti disourses om the uiteded osequees o sieti disoveries at theservie o esalatig wars (like the war agaist terrorism) ad esalatig geoidesbeause or example makig a prot with pharmaeutial produts is more importat or those who otrol it tha savig huma lives

The last ommet would like to make-derived rom the previous paragraphs-isthat beause siee old ad ew has always stopped short whe it omes to examiig domiatio oppressio subordiatio exploitatio et ritial theory owbeomes the uavoidable road to ollow or those who are ot ready yet to surrederto the imperial osequees o the myth o siees ad o sieti praties Critialtheor has bee assoiated with Karl Marxs uveilig o the logi o apital althoughas always "ritial takes (i ot theory i the otemporar sese o the expressio)o the iitial momets o ester expasio ad the oudatio o apitalism as wekow it today a be oud i the sixteeth ad seveteeth eturies At that poitdigeous people rom the Amerias ad Aria slaves did ot have the "oeptualtools available to Marx aer oe hudred years o politial eoomy (eg AdamSmith) grouded o the oloial experiee o the Spaish empires ad the BritishCaribbea platatios beore movig to Idia Be as it may Marx ad the MaxHorkheimer are two ahors whe it omes to ritial theory For rique ussel (oeo the ouders o Philosophy o iberatio i ati Ameria) the ritial otributioo Marx osisted i takig the priiples ad the logi o moder soial siees adusig them to uveil ad reveal the hidde logi o apital that is the logic of xploitation hidde uder the rhtoric of progrss19 Horkheimer ollowig the same pathaed traditionalall theory that operates o the basi assumptios o the empirialsiees traditionalare theories that give a ew sese to atual iormatio beyodtheir desriptive ature Critial theory istead explores ad reveals the hidde priiples ad domieerig ad exploitative osequees o kowledge (Horkheimer


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Social Epistemoloy 25

1937) oay, as the eamples rom nia eploye in Nanas wellinorme stuyshow critical theory cannot remain within the connes o the inustrial eploitationo the proletariat in Europe, which were the eperiences upon which Mar anHorkheimer (sensitie to omination an control ue to their Jewish social upbring

ing) base their critical theory Critical theory, toay is an will be a decolonizin enterprise (ecoonization o knowlege), een in the cases o inustria eploitation in thecolonies, in the ethir worl or in toays emerging economies an countries whose

populations are liing with one ollar a ay Racism goes haninhan with theeploitation, both in the ecolonies an increasingly in Europe an the nite Statesue to the massie immigration rom the ethir worl

n this contet, the scenario presente to us by Proessor Nana changes its conguration The question is not only that postmoern critique o science, in the est anleist critique o sciences in nia (in Arica, the Mile East, or Latin America) can

help the cause o nonestern namentalisms; the act is that humanistic ieas baseon liberal premises in the est can also play into the han o neoliberal political aneconomic theory hat is, they coul play into the hans o estern unamentalismsaance in the name o reeom an emocracy Briely there is no sae place withinabstract universals of European modernity or its counteart, Hindu Nationalism orslamic fundamentalism. he way out is conceptual elinkng, the relentless practice oouble critique o critical theory as epistemic ecolonization an o borer epistemology to aoi the trap o namentalisms in reerse The roa towar the uture is aboutlearning to conceie an enact critical cosmopolitan practices ecolonizing knowlege,

an thinking beyon the rules o moern thought Pluri-versali as a uniersal projectshall not be thought out as a ne abstract universalbut as a connector a place o encounteran echange o liberating an ecolonizing practices, where it woul make sense toght or the iea that an other worl is possible an that worl w be conceie as awor in which many worls can coeist (as the Zapatistas woul hae it) Rule outwill be both any attempt to appropriate pluriversality in orer to conert it to acommoity an any temptation to buil a powerl army aroun to eliminate all o thosewho hate pluriersality an want to estroy it Pluriersality as a uniersal project isbeing conceie as a global ialogue an action to eliminate al estiges o totalitarian

thinking the logic o coloniality, the ispensability o human lies an the concentrationo money an meaning in ewer an ewer hans n that worl Nussbaum an Senon the one han, an Shia an Nany on the other, shoul be able to work togetheragainst estern an Eastern totalitarian projects an namental belies

N

[I] Meera Nanda Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques ofScience and Hindu Nationalismin India (New Brunswick NJ Rues Universiy Press 003)

2 "Biorapcaly oivaed s ere a posive obseaion and no a cique Te posion aakin in y coenay aues n favor of e borapica inscpon n e poducion ofknowlede wic as been suppressed by oden Eopoics o knowede bend odernand Euopean concep o "scienic knowede e absence o e biorapc ave scienicknowlede e ac ouc o univesay


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26 D Mignoo

3 ] Ashs Nandy quoted n Nanda Prphet Facin Backard p 2 4] Nanda Prphet Facin Backard p 235] d ods ne tals Nandas6] d ods ne tals Nandas7] See for nsane Lews Gordon "Fanon and Developent: A Phosophal Loo n Afra

Developen/Deveopent Afrque XXX 1 2004 6588 and "Afan Aeran Phosophy Rae and the Geography of reason n Nt nly the Mater tl African American tudie in Thery and Practice ews Godon ed Bouder: CO Paradg Pushe 2005forhong

[8] "Adorno n nda Revsng the Psyhology of Fass n Exiled at Hme (Deh OxfodUnversty Pess 1998) pp 045 tals ne

[9] See Vandana Shva "Goazaton and ts Fal Out http//wzagorgsustaners/onten/200304/02shvaf

[10] Rhard Rons Glbal Prblem and the Culture f Capitalim (Aly and Baon 999); seeaso Susan George "A ef hstory of neoerals http://wwwgoaexhangeog

apagns/eon /neoeralshl ] Nanda Prphet Facin Backard p 23 tas ne ast sentene quotaon fro Nussau12] d13] d 4] "The any faes of osopols: Bode thnng and ta osopoltans Public

Culture 23 2000 1 5 ] Steve Hes John Von Neuan and Norert Wene Frm Mathematic t the Technlie

fLife and Death (Cardge MA MT Press 980)[ 6 Dstngushed Mexan soologst Pao Gonzles Casanova has reenty pulshed a

detaed and tal anayss of the peal densons and uses of he New Senes and theneed to avate tal anayss and deoonzng poets n the Huantes to unve the

dangers hdden unde the arvelous aheveents of he New Senes La Nueva Ciencia yla Humanidade. De la Academia a la Plitica (Baelona: Anthropos 2004)

[ 7 Eanuel Chuwud Eze "The olo of reason: The dea of "rae n Kants anhropologyn Chuwud Eze ed Ptclnial African Philphy A Critical Reader (ondon Blawel 997) pp 0340

[ 8 Ranajt Guha Dminance Withut Heemny quoted n Water D Mgnolo "Colonalty ofPowe and Suatenty n eana Rodrguez ed The Latin American ubaltern tudieReader (Duha: Due Unversty Pess 200 ) pp 42445

[ 9 Enrque Dussel "E progra a ento de nvestgaon de Kar Marx n Hacia una lapltica crtica (Sevla Palpsesto 2001 ) pp 279303

Rfr

Dussel Enque 2001 "El prograa ento de nvestgan de Karl Marx n Hacia una liapltica crtica Sevla: Papesto 279303

Eze Eaune Chuwud 1 997 "The Color of Reason: he dea of Rae n Kans Anthropologyn Eanue Chuwud Eze ed Ptclnial African Philphy A Critical Reader ondon:Bawel 03140

Geoge Susan 999 "A Bef Hstory of Neoerals http://wglobapolcyog/lobalz/econ/hstneohtjGonzlez Casanova Pao 2004 La nueva ciencia y la humanidade De la academia a la plicaBaelona: AnthoposGuha Ranat 2001 Dminance Withut Heemny, quoted n Waler D Mgnoo "Coonaly of

Power and Sualternty n eana Rodrguez edtor The Latin American ubaltern tudieReader Durha: Due Unversy Pess 424445


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Soca Epstemoogy

Heims Steve Neuma J. Vo & Wieer N 1980 Fom Mathematcs to the Technologes of Lfe andDeath Cambrige M

Migoo Water D 000 "Te Ma aes o Cosmo-pois Borer ikig a Critia Cosmopoitaism Publc Cultue 1 3 71748

Naa Meera 003. Pophets Facn Backwad Postmoden Ctques of Scence and Hndu Natonalsm n Inda Rutgers Rutgers Uiversit Press

Nai Asis 998 "Aoo i ia Revisiig te Psoog o asism led at HomeDei Oxor Uiversit Press 991 1 1

Robbis Riar 999 Global Poblems and the Cultue of Captalsm. oo a BaoSiva Vaaa 0034 "Gobaizatio a ts a ttp://wzmagog/sustaiers/otet/

003-04/0sivam

Documents

Mignolo - Prophets Facing Sidewise - The Geopolitics of Knowledge and the Colonial Difference