The clash of civilizations. Latin American vs. Western understanding of the categories of progress, development and modernity
The main aim of this article is an analysis of the Latin American civilization through the lens of a different perception of the notions of progress, development and modernity in this civilization, and in the Western civilization. The author is going to present the problem of the non-existing concept of progress, perceived as a process of transformation, changes, heading to the more complex states or forms and the concept of development understood as economic growth in the Andean cosmogony as well as the concept of Buen vivir. Another problem raised in this article is the issue of the Latin American philosophers who call for refusal of the category of development that is seen as a tool of dominance of the Western world over the developing countries. Another crucial aspect worth mentioning is modernity of the beginning of the 19th century in Latin America as an alternative for identity, both for those who were against educational modernity and those who were its dedicated supporters. The next important problem is the issue of identity which is a constituent part of the Latin American discourses about modernity and which is not visible in the European or American discourse. The fundamental split between modernity and identity has an influence on the whole historical trajectory of Latin American civilization which places the Latin American civilization in opposition to the Western one. Nowadays Latin American intellectuals E. Dussel, W. Minoglo show that modernity is only a European narration.