Anti-Eurocentric Eurocentrism?

The pitfalls of a 'shallow' approach to epistemological revision

Abstract

This essay by guest author Ben Brent investigates the subtle ways in which Eurocentrism can be reproduced in what otherwise appear to be anti-Eurocentric, decolonial theory. Distinguishing between “shallow” and “foundational” anti-Eurocentrism, the decentering approach pursued by some anti-Eurocentric authors is analysed in juxtaposition with the stronger position which forms the kernel of much decolonial theorising. A more “foundational” anti-Eurocentrism does, however, entail its own problems for global thought: namely, the reproduction and circulation of knowledge in a more pluriversal geopolitical context. Decoloniality is the only paradigm that offers a foundational break from Eurocentrism, opposed to a revisionism which rearticulates some of Eurocentrism’s core historical and ideological premises.