Contributions to analyze the internationalization of higher education in Latin America: a critical, reflexive, and decolonial approach

Abstract

In this essay, we develop a critical, reflexive and decolonial analysis of the internationalization paradigm that advances in the current global context of higher education. Our central argument is that this process is part the global capitalism structure as a historical social system and, as such, it follows its logic of accumulation. In ontological and epistemological terms, it is immersed in the cultural matrix of colonial power: under the foundation of a dominant global imaginary, it is based on the practice of hierarchy, legitimizing certain countries, universities and individuals as naturally superior in relation to others and favoring Eurocentric knowledge to the detriment of other forms of knowledge. Decolonizing the internationalization of higher education implies contemplating it from a situated perspective that is historical and contextual; that is, placing it in its own time and space and in rescuing what makes sense to the society in which it is integrated, with respect to its epistemic roots and historical conditions. The postcolonial/decolonial studies and the legacy of the Cordoba Movement – although limited to its specific historical context – provide clues in that direction toward Latin American higher education and base our argument.