Liberal democracies often include rights of participation, guarantees
of protection, and policies that privilege model citizens within a
bounded territory. Notwithstanding claims of universal equality for “humanity,”
they achieve these goals by epistemically elevating certain traits
of identity above “others,” sustaining colonial biases that continue to favor
whoever is regarded more “human.” The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these fault lines, unveiling once more the often-hidden prevalence of inequalities that are based on race, gender, class, ethnicity, and other axes
of power and their overlaps. Decolonial theories and practices analyze these
othering tendencies and inequalities while also highlighting how sites of suffering sometimes become locations of solidarity and agency, which uncover
often-erased alternatives and lessons.