During the Renaissance, Europeans colonized time and space, inventing the historical eras Antiquity and the Middle Ages; mapping, appropriating, and exploiting the Americas; and establishing the idea that European modernity was the apogee of human history and the model for the world to emulate. Walter D. Mignolo analyzes the "colonial logic" that has driven five hundred years of Western imperialism, from colonialism through neo-liberalism, and he describes resistance, from the sixteenth century onward, to the projection and violent forcing of modern European ideals onto the non-European world. Mignolo argues that in the early twenty-first century, an irreversible polycentric world order has taken hold. European-American modernity is no longer taken for granted as a global model. The creation of multiple, global futures not dominated by the West is well underway; it was visible in the Zapatista movement's displacement of the separation between theory and practice, and it can be seen in the election and government of Evo Morales in Bolivia. Advocating for the pluralisation of ways of being and knowing, Mignolo contributes to the projects of decolonization unfolding in different forms around the world.
The Darker Side of Western Modernity
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"Walter D. Mignolo is one of our leading theorists of coloniality/modernity and de-colonial thinking. With this superb book, the third in an 'unintended' trilogy exploring the nature and limits of modern social thought, Mignolo continues his ambition to 'break the Western code' embodied in its rhetoric of modernity and logic of coloniality. This volume brings to light a darker side of the project of modernity, the oppressive relations that were at its heart, and offers de-colonial options for the building of communal futures different from our pasts. It is necessary reading for all those interested in the emancipatory potential of social theory for dealing with the challenges of the twenty-first century." Gurminder K. Bhambra, author of Rethinking Modernity: Postcolonialism and the Sociological Imagination "The Darker Side of Western Modernity is a significant, visionary, and hopeful text. More than just revealing the logic and strategy at work in the 'darker side of Western modernity,' the book makes evident and gives life to de-colonial de-linking and thought. Its eye is toward emergent processes and projects of political-epistemic resistance, disobedience, and transformation that give sustenance, reason, and concretion to the prospect and anticipation of other possible worlds. Through these processes and projects, Mignolo remaps the order of knowing, reading, and doing, while also indicating paths and perspectives for significantly different communal futures." Catherine E. Walsh, director, Doctoral Program in Latin American Cultural Studies, Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar, Quito, Ecuador
About the Author
Walter D. Mignolo is Director of the Institute for Global Studies in Humanities, William H. Wannamaker Professor of Literature and Romance Studies, and Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Duke University. He is the author of "The Idea of Latin America"; "Local Histories/Global Designs: Coloniality, Subaltern Knowledges, and Border Thinking"; and "The Darker Side of The Renaissance: Literacy, Territoriality and Colonization "and a co-editor of "Rereading the Black Legend: The Discourses of Religious and Racial Difference in the Renaissance Empires."
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mapping global futures and the end of Western domination
10 Jan 2013
By Mauro
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This review is from: The Darker Side of Western Modernity: Global Futures, Decolonial Options (Latin America Otherwise) (Paperback)
Ouch!!!
When i bought this book, recommended reading for a working group that start in January, i was surprised by the fact that the faculty leading the working group assigned a book with the lowest rate in Amazon.com. I start reading it mentally preparing myself to debate with the leading faculty lwho recommended a bad book. By the third chapter i realized that the person who rated this book with one (*) would have been deeply disturbed by the argument. I checked other ratings (Barns and Nobles, Google Books and Good Read) and all give five stars. (1)
I understand now why someone (and i imagine postmodern and Eurocentered readers) would be upset by an argument that announces the end of Western domination and the emergence of a transmodern world lead by dewesternization and decoloniality. Sure, Western Civilization, Mignolo argues, is not to vanish. What is ending is the 500 years of Western domination. If you are not a postmodern or Marxist believer in a future lead by the constant mutation of Western modernity and Western civilization, and believe that a change of epoch is taking place because of dewesternization and decoloniality are to lead the way, this book will open doors and windows that modernity and postmodernity shut down. An added feature is the chapter on Zapatista's theoretical revolution, anticipating without knowing it, the return of the Zapatistas to the public sphere the 1st of January of 2012, 18 years after the uprising. I am looking forward to our meeting at the end of January to discuss this fantastic and illuminating book with the working group.
(1) I checked on "other reviews" by Monteverdi, and there is none. Which confirms my intuition now that he (most likely) is a reader deeply disturbed by this book.
Ouch!!!
When i bought this book, recommended reading for a working group that start in January, i was surprised by the fact that the faculty leading the working group assigned a book with the lowest rate in Amazon.com. I start reading it mentally preparing myself to debate with the leading faculty lwho recommended a bad book. By the third chapter i realized that the person who rated this book with one (*) would have been deeply disturbed by the argument. I checked other ratings (Barns and Nobles, Google Books and Good Read) and all give five stars. (1)
I understand now why someone (and i imagine postmodern and Eurocentered readers) would be upset by an argument that announces the end of Western domination and the emergence of a transmodern world lead by dewesternization and decoloniality. Sure, Western Civilization, Mignolo argues, is not to vanish. What is ending is the 500 years of Western domination. If you are not a postmodern or Marxist believer in a future lead by the constant mutation of Western modernity and Western civilization, and believe that a change of epoch is taking place because of dewesternization and decoloniality are to lead the way, this book will open doors and windows that modernity and postmodernity shut down. An added feature is the chapter on Zapatista's theoretical revolution, anticipating without knowing it, the return of the Zapatistas to the public sphere the 1st of January of 2012, 18 years after the uprising. I am looking forward to our meeting at the end of January to discuss this fantastic and illuminating book with the working group.
(1) I checked on "other reviews" by Monteverdi, and there is none. Which confirms my intuition now that he (most likely) is a reader deeply disturbed by this book.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Two Thumbs Up
14 May 2013
By C. Giosan
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Easily one of my favorite books describing the differences between "Western & Non-Western Ideology". Took forever for me to read what must be a Graduate level philosophy book. Worth the time it took and learned alot and opened my eyes that much more to how the "West" tries to define how the rest of the World should live. Highly recommended reading but keep a dictionary with you and whatever you do, don't even think about rushing this read. It's definitely one that will make you think and question the way things are in our society that much more.
2 of 7 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
The kindle version of this book has not links to the endnotes
6 Jan 2013
By S. Escobar
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Do NO BUY THE KINDLE VERSION OF THIS BOOK. it is useless because has too many endnotes that you cannot read because there are not linked to the text. so good luck going to the end, scrolling back for centuries until you find the note, and then, good luck going back to where you were reading.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
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