The Coloniality of the Secular

“How are religious sensibilities mobilized in decolonial thought, a tradition that rebels against the legacy of Christianity in shaping colonial ideologies? Challenging the widespread assumption of decolonial thought as ‘secular,’ The Coloniality of the Secular offers an attentive and insightful reading of some of its most celebrated theorists, surfacing their gestures toward a notion of the sacred. This is an indispensable contribution to theorizing religion in the Americas and reconceiving decolonial thought and practice!” - Mayra Rivera, author of Poetics of the Flesh

“The Coloniality of the Secular takes on, with critical precision and erudition, the thorny concepts of religion and secularism as both have been mediated by the colonizing and hegemonic yoke of Christianity and its mirror images. Drawing upon a rich array of Africana and decolonial scholarship to make his case, An Yountae presents a provocative decolonial analysis and theory in which creolizing the sacred shines through, transcending the colonial religion/secular divide. A valuable contribution not only to decolonial thought but also to critical modernity studies, religious studies, race studies, and global southern thought.” - Lewis R. Gordon, author of Freedom, Justice, and Decolonization

"[The Coloniality of the Secular] offers a crucial perspective that demonstrates the urgency of problematizing the secular-religion binary and rethinking the critical potential of what we might call 'religion.'" - Jake Wumkes, Journal of Ecumenical Studies