Colonial Differences in Intercultural Education: On Interculturality in the Andes and the Decolonization of Intercultural Dialogue

Co This article pushes for the possibility of alternative ways of thinking about the concept of interculturality depending on where and by whom it is being articulated (the geopolitics and body politic of knowledge). To illustrate this, the focus is shifted away from the policies of the European Union and UNESCO to the Andean region of Latin America where the notion of interculturalidad is not only a subject on the educational agenda but has also become a core component of indigenous social movements’ demands for decolonization. Part of the argument of this article is that interculturalidad, with its roots in the historical experience of colonialism and in the particular, rather than in assertions of universality, offers a perspective on interculturality that relies on other epistemologies. It concludes by arguing that interculturality should be seen as interepistemic rather than simply intercultural.