THE MYTH OF DEVELOPMENT AND COLONIALITY OF POWER

COMMENTS ON THE WORK OF CELSO FURTADO

Abstract

In this proposal, we investigate the extent to which Celso Furtado's reflective process, which precedes decolonial theory, can point to a rupture in the coloniality of power, knowledge, and critique of the hegemonic model of economic development. To this end, the work was constructed based on a reflection on creativity, dependence and the myth of economic development allied to the coloniality of power and its overcoming, based on the works of Celso Furtado, as well as decolonial critique theorists, such as Aníbal Quijano and Walter Mignolo. Thus, we reflect on how the myth of economic development reflects aspects of the coloniality of power, as well as how Celso Furtado's reflection on creativity and its disruptive potential with coloniality can help us understand this myth from other perspectives. Finally, by questioning the myth of development, we examine how the social creativity of the Brazilian people can undermine past and imported forms of development and culture in favor of more creative, proud, and sovereign ways of making Brazil a self-aware nation that is aware of its own history.