The paradoxical space of the Latin American academy: imprisoned thought, thought that imprisons?

Abstract

As Latin American scholars, we move in a paradoxical space: a space of subordination in the production of international academic knowledge and a space of privilege in the production of local knowledge. We are often white, holding positions of power in racialized societies, and often middle class, and so we often reproduce – intentionally or not, consciously or not– the race and class logic of colonial power in our local contexts, while we struggle to find recognition in international academia, critiquing the coloniality we benefit from “at home” in the form of privilege. We must ask ourselves about this place from which we speak and how institutional belonging places us in various interlocutions: with social movements in the position of researchers, with students in the position of professors, etc. What use do we make of the symbolic powers that are attributed to us?