Autonomia e decolonialidade

The aim of this study is to explore convergences between the decolonial perspective of International Relations and conceptions of autonomy in Latin American foreign policy. We ask how the decolonial perspective can contribute to a revision of autonomy as a conceptual category in foreign policy analysis. We argue that recent transformations in the colonial matrix of power have demanded adjustments in the praxis of autonomy as a vector of foreign policy. We used a qualitative, post-positivist approach, with descriptive and exploratory inference. Using the hypothetical-deductive method, our research instrument consists of a systematic review of the specialized bibliography on the two theoretical perspectives – autonomy and decoloniality. Based on this analysis, the elements in common between the two indicate the possibility of a long process of epistemological renewal around autonomy in Latin American foreign policy. Considering the central agency of the modern state, the proposed dialogue shows that some aspects of decolonial theory are compatible with the theoretical body of autonomy in foreign policy, although certain points present incongruities.