Research

As a philosopher who specializes in Latin American and Caribbean thought, my work employs decolonial approaches to examine the intersections between race, religion, politics, and secularization.

RELIGION, POLITICS, AND SECULARIZATION

Decolonizing the Postsecular

My first book, Decolonizing the Postsecular: Reclaiming the Dialectics of Secularization (Columbia University Press, New Directions in Critical Theory, 2027), brings debates on epistemic decolonization to bear on sociological and philosophical theories of secularization and postsecularity as developed by figures such as José Casanova and Jürgen Habermas. It specifically traces a relation between processes of secularization and processes of colonization in the West and offers a new account of the modern “dialectics of secularization” from the perspective of decolonization.

Early arguments related to this project (though superseded by the book) can be found in Comparative and Continental Philosophy (on Sylvia Wynter) and in the APA Newsletter on Hispanic/Latino Issues in Philosophy (on Enrique Dussel). The latter won the 2020 Essay Prize in Latin American Thought, awarded by the American Philosophical Association to “the author of the best unpublished, English-language, philosophical essay in Latin American thought.”

Modernity as Political Theology

My second book, Modernity as Political Theology: A Decolonial Argument (in progress), expands one line of inquiry opened in Decolonizing the Postsecular: the relation between philosophy of religion and political theology in the context of epistemic decolonization.

Tentative arguments have been published in the anthology Political Theology Reimagined (on the postsecular method of liberation philosophy), the Journal of World Philosophies (a decolonial critique of such a method), and in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion (a postsecular politico-theological reading of Marx’s work).

Dialogue with Theologies and Spiritualities

In parallel to the above two projects, I have also maintained a sustained dialogue (on decolonial and postsecularist grounds) with certain theologies and spiritualities. This has so far resulted in the publication of two special issues: one in The CLR James Journal on decolonizing spiritualities and another in LÁPIZ on liberation theologies. I am currently editing an anthology based on these dialogues.

Phenomenology of Violence

Seeking to apply some of the conceptual frameworks developed in Decolonizing the Postsecular and Modernity as Political Theology, I am interested in developing a postsecular phenomenology of violence that is socially and historically rooted in contemporary Mexico. My initial thoughts on this project can be found in the Radical Philosophy Review.

DECOLONIZATION

Epistemic Decolonization

Given that decolonization is the methodological and conceptual core of all my scholarship, I am invested in a clear articulation of its presuppositions and ramifications. These are epistemological concerns that, thus far, I have reflected on in the context of the university and academic philosophy (Decolonising the University) as well as in the context of socio-political praxis, taking the Zapatistas as a point of departure (TRANSMODERNITY: Journal of Peripheral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World).

On this topic, I currently have work in progress on (i) the “metaphorization” of decolonization and on (ii) decolonial aesthetics.

South-South Dialogues

Because colonization and coloniality are global phenomena, I am drawn towards advancing South-South dialogues that promote global efforts towards decolonization. Thus far, I have opened a line of dialogue between Latin American and East Asian critiques of modernity, as advanced by liberation philosophy and various philosophical schools in Japan, Korea, and China. This is part of a collaborative project that I am working on with Jeong Eun Annabel We, and which will result in a series of initiatives and publications over the next few years.

RACE

The last major component of my work has to do with the analysis of modern racial discourses. I approach race as it intersects with all the aforementioned topics.

Race as Political Theology

For instance, one area of interest which thus far I have only briefly touched upon has to do with how racial dynamics unfold at the intersection of religion and secularization. More specifically, I want to articulate some of the consequences of the theological origins of racial discourse (analyzed in Decolonizing the Postsecular) for contemporary philosophy of race.

Race and Class

I am similarly preoccupied with developing a decolonial South-South analysis of how race and class intersect differently throughout the world today. Thus far, I am revisiting the approaches of Black Marxists from the Caribbean, a project that has resulted in publications on the cultural theorist Stuart Hall and the political philosopher Charles W. Mills.