Nesse ensaio apresentaremos as linhas constitutivas do pensamento decolonial, que apresenta a colonialidade como o “lado escuro” da modernidade, intrinsecamente associada aos propósitos emancipadores do Ocidente cristão. Esse pensamento se configura como uma obra coletiva em construção, que afunda suas raízes na tradição crítica anticolonial latino-americana, agrupando produções heterogêneas de diversos autores num âmbito interdisciplinar. Elemento de gravitação e de agregação de todo o programa é o conceito de “colonialidade do poder” que se desdobra em “colonialidade do saber” e “colonialidade do ser”, formando assim uma “estrutura triangular”, a expressar principalmente a dimensão política, epistemológica e ontológica do objeto em questão. Os aportes desse projeto oferecem para uma teologia da missão intuições e elementos analíticos críticos que delineiam quatro âmbitos de indagação: a irrupção do “outro” como sujeito interlocutor; a necessidade de um processo epistêmico de desprendimento e abertura; a exigência primeira da missão habitar a fronteira; o compromisso junto aos projetos decoloniais globais. Enveredar pelo caminho decolonial implica para a prática e a teologia da missão uma radical mudança de orientação e motivação.
This essay will present the constitutive lines of Latin American decolonial thought, which presents coloniality as the “dark side” of modernity, intrinsically associated with the emancipatory purposes of the Christian West. This thought is configured as a collective work under construction, which has its roots in the Latin American anti-colonial critical tradition, grouping heterogeneous productions by different authors in an interdisciplinary scope. An element of gravitation and aggregation of the entire program is the concept of “coloniality of power” that unfolds into “coloniality of knowledge” and “coloniality of being”, thus forming a “triangular structure”, expressing mainly the political, epistemological and ontological dimension of the object in question. The contributions of this project offer intuitive insights and critical analytical elements for a theolog y of mission that outline four areas of inquiry: the irruption of the “other” as an interlocutor; the need for an epistemic process of detachment and openness; the primary requirement of the mission to inhabit the border; commitment to global decolonial projects. Going down the decolonial path implies a radical change in orientation and motivation for mission practice and theology. This essay will present the constitutive lines of Latin American decolonial thought, which presents coloniality as the “dark side” of modernity, intrinsically associated with the emancipatory purposes of the Christian West. This thought is configured as a collective work under construction, which has its roots in the Latin American anti-colonial critical tradition, grouping heterogeneous productions by different authors in an interdisciplinary scope. An element of gravitation and aggregation of the entire program is the concept of “coloniality of power” that unfolds into “coloniality of knowledge” and “coloniality of being”, thus forming a “triangular structure”, expressing mainly the political, epistemological and ontological dimension of the object in question. The contributions of this project offer intuitive insights and critical analytical elements for a theolog y of mission that outline four areas of inquiry: the irruption of the “other” as an interlocutor; the need for an epistemic process of detachment and openness; the primary requirement of the mission to inhabit the border; commitment to global decolonial projects. Going down the decolonial path implies a radical change in orientation and motivation for mission practice and theology.
