TY - JOUR
T1 - How coloniality shapes the making of Latin American psychologists: ethnographic evidence from Ecuador
AU - Capella, Manuel
AU - Jadhav, Sushrut
PY - 2020/5/18
Y1 - 2020/5/18
N2 - This paper provides ethnographic evidence on how coloniality shapes the making of Latin American psychologists. A critical ethnography was conducted at a psychology training institution in Ecuador, consisting of twelve months of participant observation; forty-one semi-structured interviews; and analysis of academic discourse, photos, videos and relevant social media content. The research was guided by the tradition of Critical Psychology – specifically Liberation Psychology – and Critical Discourse Analysis. Findings suggest the pervasiveness of coloniality in the making of Ecuadorian psychologists and, hypothetically, of others in Latin America and the wider Global South. Interpretations also highlight the non-essentialist, non-dichotomist, ‘messy’ nature of such processes, a consideration which may advance current ethical and analytical debates on decolonisation. Echoing ongoing critical arguments, authors suggest that a ‘help-as-war’ metaphor is a category with potential value to contribute to such advancement, an approach that has important theoretical and pragmatic implications for researchers and practitioners.
AB - This paper provides ethnographic evidence on how coloniality shapes the making of Latin American psychologists. A critical ethnography was conducted at a psychology training institution in Ecuador, consisting of twelve months of participant observation; forty-one semi-structured interviews; and analysis of academic discourse, photos, videos and relevant social media content. The research was guided by the tradition of Critical Psychology – specifically Liberation Psychology – and Critical Discourse Analysis. Findings suggest the pervasiveness of coloniality in the making of Ecuadorian psychologists and, hypothetically, of others in Latin America and the wider Global South. Interpretations also highlight the non-essentialist, non-dichotomist, ‘messy’ nature of such processes, a consideration which may advance current ethical and analytical debates on decolonisation. Echoing ongoing critical arguments, authors suggest that a ‘help-as-war’ metaphor is a category with potential value to contribute to such advancement, an approach that has important theoretical and pragmatic implications for researchers and practitioners.
KW - professional identity
KW - psychology
KW - global mental health
KW - critical ethnography
KW - critical discourse analysis
KW - Latin America
KW - Global South
KW - colonial
KW - metaphor
UR - https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2020.1761777
U2 - 10.1080/09540261.2020.1761777
DO - 10.1080/09540261.2020.1761777
M3 - Artículo
SN - 0954-0261
VL - 32
JO - International Review of Psychiatry
JF - International Review of Psychiatry
IS - 4
ER -