DECOLONIALITY AND LIBERATION THEOLOGY IN LATIN AMERICA: FROM LIBERATION TO DECOLONIALITY

Abstract

Eurocentric modernity reached the New World in the early 16th cen­tury and established itself in this territory through colonization. In order to consolidate the colonizing project, a model of governance was developed based on two concepts: “the idea of race” and “Latin America” which were the main instruments for subjecting native inhabitants to the rule of colonial powers. The colonizers spread concepts and worldviews that reinforced prejudice and discrimi­nation, denying the alterity of the colonized. During the period of colonialism, the theological teachings aimed at fulfilling colonial goals. In the 20th century, the emergence of liberation theology in Latin America contributed to transform the situation. It proposed a liberating theological thought, although with certain aspects of modernity. However, the liberation theology of Latin America offers a proposal and a step towards a decolonizing theology, which must be firmly rooted in local reality in its rich diversity.