The Coloniality of the Secular: Race, Religion, and Poetics of World-Making

In The Coloniality of the Secular , An Yountae investigates the collusive ties between the modern concepts of the secular, religion, race, and coloniality in the Americas. Drawing on the work of Édouard Glissant, Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Sylvia Wynter, and Enrique Dussel, An maps the intersections of revolutionary non-Western thought with religious ideas to show how decoloniality redefines the sacred as an integral part of its liberation vision. He examines these thinkers’ rejection of colonial religions and interrogates the narrow conception of religion that confines it within colonial power structures. An explores decoloniality’s conception of the sacred in relation to revolutionary violence, gender, creolization, and racial phenomenology, demonstrating its potential for reshaping religious paradigms. Pointing out that the secular has been pivotal to regulating racial hierarchies under colonialism, he advocates for a broader understanding of religion that captures the fundamental ideas that drive decolonial thinking. By examining how decolonial theory incorporates the sacred into its vision of liberation, An invites readers to rethink the transformative power of decoloniality and religion to build a hopeful future. Summary:"The Coloniality of the Secular explores how decolonial theory can open ways to theorize religion in the Americas. An Yountae maps how revolutionary non-Western thought is shot through with religious ideas, as exemplified by key decolonial figures including Edouard Glissant, Frantz Fanon, and Gloria Anzaldua. By revisiting the corpus of decolonial literature with an eye towards religion, Yountae reveals how decoloniality reconstitutes the sacred as part of its vision of liberation. This incisive reading of decoloniality elucidates how revolutionary thinkers' refusal of colonial religions opens up the possibility for the remaking of religion itself. Across the book's five chapters, Yountae explores decoloniality's conception of the sacred in relationship to revolutionary violence, gender, creolization, and racial phenomenology. By expanding our understanding of decoloniality's investments in the spirit, An Yountae shows how decoloniality provides a radically different epistemology and horizon for the future"-- Provided by publisher Cover Contents Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: A Decolonial Theory of Religion Part I. Genealogies 1. Modernity/Coloniality/Secularity: The Cartography of Struggle 2. Crisis and Revolutionary Praxis: Philosophy and Theology of Liberation Part II. Poetics 3. Phenomenology of the Political: Fanon’s Religion 4. Phenomenology of Race: Poetics of Blackness 5. Poetics of World-Making: Creolizing the Sacred, Becoming Archipelago Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index