LINGUISTIC AND EPISTEMIC HIERARCHY

REFLECTIONS ON LATIN AMERICA

Abstract

There are numerous hierarchies that determine relations within the capitalist system. In the dominant discourse on science and knowledge, there is a tendency to attribute a peripheral or backward position to Latin American territories and communities, recipients in the cycle of production and circulation of knowledge disseminated from a center. A region where original and innovative scientific and technological knowledge is not produced at a global level. The aim of this work is to study the linguistic and epistemic hierarchy in Latin America, with special attention to languages and language politics in the Amazon. It is a qualitative study with bibliographic research as method, focusing on the theoretical discussion around the notions of global hierarchies (GROSFOGUEL, 2008), international linguistic order (TORTOSA, 1982), epistemology of the South (SANTOS, 2016), glotopolitics (GUESPIN, MARCELLESI (2021) and others. In this way, we problematize the structural and relational dimensions of power and how hierarchies affect language politics for languages in Latin America.