Coloniality of power, being and knowledge in a Mexican intercultural university

Abstract

This article presents the results of a case study of the Universidad Intercultural del Estado de México (UIEM), pioneer of the 12 Indigenous-serving institutions created by the Mexican government starting in 2003. Through interviews with graduates and program coordinators, the article seeks to answer the following question: To what degree do the intercultural universities break with the coloniality of power, being and knowledge? The article concludes that the epistemic frictions and contradictions between the intercultural utopia and institutional practice limit the university´s transformative potential, with implications for the intercultural system as a whole.