Rafael Vizcaíno
BIO
A philosopher who specializes in Latin American and Caribbean thought, Rafael’s work employs decolonial approaches to examine the intersections between race, religion, politics, and secularization.
Rafael’s first book, Decolonizing the Postsecular (forthcoming, Columbia University Press), brings debates on epistemic decolonization to bear on sociological and philosophical theories of secularization and postsecularity as developed by figures such as José Casanova and Jürgen Habermas. It traces a relation between processes of secularization and processes of colonization in the West and offers a new account of the modern “dialectics of secularization” from the perspective of decolonization. Early arguments related to this project can be found in The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, Comparative and Continental Philosophy, and in the APA Newsletter on Hispanic/Latino Issues in Philosophy. The latter article won the 2020 Essay Prize in Latin American Thought, awarded by the American Philosophical Association to “the author of the best unpublished, English-language, philosophical essay in Latin American thought.”
His second book project, tentatively titled Modernity as Political Theology: A Decolonial Argument, expands on one line of inquiry opened in Decolonizing the Postsecular: the relation between philosophy of religion and political theology in the context of epistemic decolonization. Preliminary arguments related to this project can be found in the anthology Political Theology Reimagined, the Journal of World Philosophies, and the Journal of the American Academy of Religion.
His work also more broadly explores the place and function of spirituality in decolonization, methodological issues in the framework of epistemic decolonization, as well as an array of various contemporary problems in social and political philosophy.
At DePaul, he is currently on the advisory board for the Center for Religion, Culture and Community. Outside DePaul, he is Book Review Editor of Philosophy and Global Affairs and Co-Chair of the Secularism and Secularity Unit at the American Academy of Religion.
For more details and the latest information on his research, teaching, and scholarly activities, please visit his website.
Some news about Rafael:
- Hispanic Theological Initiative Open Plaza podcast interview: English, Castellano.
- Contribution to DePaul’s Courageous Dialogue Series.
- American Philosophical Association’s news release about receiving the 2020 Essay Prize in Latin American Thought.