Overseas, continental, and internal colonialism: Responses from latin american anthropologies

Abstract

All forms of colonialism leave their marks not only on social and cultural processes. They also shape the construction of knowledge about them. Therefore it is necessary to complete the accustomed ‘internalist’ histories of science with the research on its sociopolitical contexts, and specially, the past and actual North-South divide. The intensification of contacts among Latin American anthropological traditions since the nineties is producing comparative visions of anthropological science and foster ‘decolonial’ perspectives (a specific Latin American version of Postcoloniality). The model of ‘cultural control’, which combines the analysis of symbolic processes with that of power relations may constitute a way out of the long during invisibility of Latin American anthropologies and empower them as parts of a diverse and multipolar world anthropology.