Unraveling the Colonial Spell

Growing up in Chile in the 70’s and 80’s, my parents strove to educate me according to the ideals and principles of Eurocentric colonial civilization. In my younger years I attended a British Institute and later graduated as a journalist from the Pontifical Catholic University.

Though I ended up deeply entrenched in the colonial ways of assessing reality, I was not fully tamed. In my early 20’s, my audacious spirit led me on an adventure to see the world with my own eyes.

In that journey I fell in love with the lessons I had to learn: I married the prince of my own colonial fairy tale. Years later I would divorce, not just him, but the patriarchal mind set—a task that continues to unfold each year as I discover new and deeper layers of indoctrination.

In the beginning of my awakening, I decided that being a woman was no longer a disadvantage; that coming from the Southern hemisphere didn’t mean I was a second class citizen in this world; and that having less money, didn’t make me a less valuable human being.

However, with time passing I began to unravel more complex colonial tales affecting negatively, to different degrees, the great majority of people in the world—and not just people, but all life in this planet.

Throughout the last few hundred years, with the expansion of colonization, came the dominant and arrogant belief that European epistemologies (with Greek and Latin roots) are the only correct way of knowing the truth and of approaching reality—from spiritual life to daily chores.

Christianity as the dominant religious framework in Europe led to the suppression of indigenous and polytheistic knowledge across the world—in the Americas, Africa, the South Pacific, and even within European pagan communities. In this approach, native peoples were portrayed as inferior, with heretical views, and in need of European guidance.

Further, the Enlightenment period and the Scientific Revolution of the 16th–17th centuries prioritized empirical observation and the scientific method, often dismissing ancestral knowledge as primitive and superstitious.

The scientific method, which has allowed humanity to see far out to the stars and deep within an atom—beyond our wildest dreams—is fascinating and not to be blamed. But science with the development of technology can be awfully dangerous if is left alone in the hands and minds of colonial supremacy.

Inventions intended to help the world end up poisoning and destroying people’s health and the environment. As an example, we have massive food production methods using GMO seeds, pesticides and additives, and then the pharmaceutical industry prioritizing profit over people’s well-being while extracting and patenting traditional medicines from marginalized indigenous communities.

Meanwhile, the global economy is structured to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of a few, as multinational corporations and financial elites exploit cheap labor, suppress wages, and control resources, widening inequality. This profit-driven system also fuels environmental destruction through wars, deforestation, pollution, and overextraction.

There are endless other complex and violent issues stemming from patriarchal, metropolitan, and colonial hegemonies, each intertwining and expanding in messy, unpredictable ways.

So, what do we do?

This is such a big question with countless possible answers, but the first step is to open our eyes and hearts and do exactly this: ask the question so we can keep envisioning how to midwife a healthier world for our children’s children and beyond.

Second, we can cultivate curiosity about other epistemologies—alternative ways of knowing—that may offer meaningful solutions to the crisis we face. For example, regarding climate science, indigenous communities often have clear wisdom of how to maintain and restore ecosystems, yet they are rarely consulted in global environmental policies.

Another example is an indigenous restorative justice system that prioritizes healing over punishment. When a crime occurs, the offender, victim, and community come together in dialogue to acknowledge the harm, seek accountability, and collectively determine a path toward resolution. Instead of isolating the offender through imprisonment, this approach fosters reconciliation, personal responsibility, and reintegration into society.

Ultimately, dismantling the hegemony of colonialist ways of thinking requires not only questioning dominant systems but also actively uplifting and integrating diverse perspectives, especially those long silenced. By embracing different ways of knowing and being, we can begin to co-create a world rooted in equity, sustainability, and collective well-being—one where future generations inherit not just knowledge, but wisdom.

How else can we create a more inclusive and pluriversal conversation for the benefit of all life in our beautiful planet?.

Marcela Lobos