The complex relationship between modernity and capitalism: a decolonial vision

Abstract

This essay addresses the historical relationship between modernity and capitalism as well as the options of a horizon of transformation that goes beyond the traditional binary conceptions of seeing and being in the world. Contrary to what a Westernised left declares, it is proposed a decolonial critical vision of this relationship. From this theoretical intervention, we discuss the political consequences of considering modernity as a civilizing project or to understand it as a possible project among others. We therefore propose to study how and under what categories we conceptualize the relationship between modernity and capitalism, a key issue for contemporary political debates. We propose to think of a “transmodern” project that recognizes colonialism in its subjective dimension as a prerequisite for a true decolonizing project.