pluriversalism

Pluriversalism is a philosophical and political concept that argues there are many worlds or coexisting ontologies, rather than a single universal framework of knowledge or modernity. It holds that diverse cultures, knowledges, and ways of being have legitimate claims to truth, value, and political legitimacy, and that these multiplicities should be acknowledged and negotiated in shared spaces rather than subordinated to one universal order.

The idea is central to decolonial thought, especially in Latin America. It has been developed by thinkers such as Enrique Dussel and Boaventura de Sousa Santos, and by critics of Eurocentric modernity such as Arturo Escobar. Dussel contrasts a European universalism with a pluriversal project that recognizes multiple rationalities and worlds; Santos emphasizes epistemologies of the South and pluriversality as a program to rethink knowledge, development, and democracy.

Core claims include that knowledge and being are socially situated and historically contingent, and that universal claims cannot capture all legitimate perspectives. Pluriversalism advocates including Indigenous, local, and non-Western epistemologies in science, education, law, and governance, and promotes dialogic exchange, consent, and political justice across different worlds.

In practice, pluriversalism shapes debates on decolonizing institutions, environmental governance, and intellectual property, arguing for polycentric decision-making, community consent, and the recognition of plural cosmologies in policy making.

Critics contend that pluriversalism can verge on relativism or threaten social cohesion if every worldview is treated as equally authoritative. Proponents respond that pluriversalism is not moral equivalence but a call to contest power asymmetries and to negotiate norms across multiple, unequal worlds.

See also: epistemologies of the South; decolonial theory; postcolonialism.