Deborah Root and the concept of my book

I must find that Julio Ortega book, and I must teach something by Ortega y Gasset in that class on raza. On Spain, we will read things by Branche, Goode, Piedra, and Ortega y Gasset. We will also study Vasconcelos and Aztlán: espíritu, raza, palabra. Meanwhile: Deborah Root’s 1988 review of Todorov’s La conquête de l’Amérique points … More Deborah Root and the concept of my book

More exceptionalism

It appears that my LASA paper was actually written over 10 years ago by the graduate student Joshua Lund. (A meaning of this would be that I am not cutting edge and am well positioned in these peripheral trenches, translating smart work for the masses. This is not a bad realization; I am not being … More More exceptionalism

A contradiction, because of time; I am rushed indeed

These notes are or could be key for this paper but I do not have time to fully understand them, since I must finish it now. Mignolo 66: La idea de “América fue parte del “occidentalismo” y, más tarde, la idea de “América Latina” se volvió problemática cuando América del sur y el Caribe fueron … More A contradiction, because of time; I am rushed indeed

For my book, and perhaps some of my current papers

Mignolo 111: “En el continente americano, la raza se convirtió en un motivo endémico de la conciencia del Nuevo Mundo, y por eso las razas se ‘sienten’ en América como se ‘sienten’ las clases en Europa.” He is discussing Lewis Gordon, Existentia Africana, another book I should read. Also: Omi and Winant. Formation theory is … More For my book, and perhaps some of my current papers

What are research and writing, and what is productivity?

There is an article by Quijano and Wallerstein, Americanity as a concept; or the Americas in the modern world system: “La americanidad y la colonialidad estuvieron íntimamente ligadas desde un principio. La singularidad de América reside en los diversos borramientos que acompañaron la expansión colonial europea: el imaginario territorial indígena, y mucho más.” (Mignolo 2005: … More What are research and writing, and what is productivity?

Maristella Svampa

She has a smart book on civilization and barbarism that I found out about from the Spanish Professor and am now using to teach Facundo. Here is a snippet from my simplifying notes for class: Con la Revolución Francesa se introduce la idea de que la barbarie se halla también en el interior del continente … More Maristella Svampa

Síntomas criollos

This was from the Guadalajara LASA, in 1997. I am wondering now whether cultural exceptionalism is a “criollo symptom” — of the attempt to grapple with the fact of being in what Mignolo (and others) call “coloniality” when their imperative is to join the modernity (again Mignolo) from which they are barred by definition. This … More Síntomas criollos