In the Americas, colonialism informs nearly all aspects of life. From
European invasion onward it established a durable matrix of power based
on gender relations, racism and ethnic classifications that defined
white and criollo male superiority over the indigenous and 'Afro
American' as well as over Asian, Jewish, Arabic, Muslim and Hindu
populations, peoples and nations, in spite of the ambiguity of ethnic
and racial frontiers. Moreover, in recent times, the thrust to
decolonize has become a major aspiration that implies the rescue and
re-evaluation of native and subordinated cultures.
Colonialism has deeply informed cultural production and popular culture
in the Americas. Jazz, blues, rock music and hip-hop have given voice to
the experience of ethnic and racial exclusion and Latin America's boom
literature is informed by 'magic' indigenous-colonial cosmovisions.
Ethnic and racial struggles against quota systems and/or
auto-ethnographic media productions are integral parts of the fight
against the negative aspects of the colonial legacy.
This volume adopts a broad concept of colonialism, which refers not only
to a specific historical period but also to a relational mode that
creates asymmetric power relations and modes of exploitation that
persist and that are constantly renewed but also contested. Rather than
trying to give a comprehensive account of colonial and decolonial
dynamics, this collection illustrates the centrality of colonialism in
the history of the Americas and the wide range of areas in which
decolonizing efforts and postcolonial processes continue to impact the
Western Hemisphere.
