Postcolonial studies and social sciences: criticisms and epistemological alternatives

Abstract

This work analyzes some of the main epistemological criticisms that the so-called “post-colonial” studies address to the social sciences (or to science, in general), and the alternatives they propose. More specifically, it focuses on formulations developed within the “Modernity / Coloniality” group, based on the work of Walter Mignolo, and on what has been one of its main interlocutors in Portuguese: Boaventura de Sousa Santos. First, it points out how the colonial provides the foundation for the construction of modern concepts of knowledge, denying the universe of beliefs and behaviors of colonized countries the very condition of knowledge. Finally, recognizing the extreme relevance, for the human and social sciences, of the “other paradigms” and the “ecology of knowledge”, outlines some limitations in these perspectives, especially with regard to the epistemological status of science after recognizing its roots and colonial survivals.