Études décoloniales et postcoloniales dans les débats français

This article analyses the three types of critiques generally formulated regarding postcolonial and decolonial studies (often confused with one another in France) : their alleged US-centrism, their Manichean structure and their essentialism. While such a reading is understandable in the context of the contemporary French social sciences, an attentive study of the authors of the decolonial current leads us to the conclusion that all the authors do not fall into these traps. Moreover, these authors’ diversity in terms of the disciplines they practice (economics, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, history) and national origin (both Latin American and U.S.) favors complex and stimulating critical thought