Left: The clothing of Ignacio Martín-Baró on the day of his execution. Middle: Two young guerilleras. Right: Cartridges and ammunition from El Salvador's civil war
Western knowledge systems often dominate global discussions on social justice, erasing knowledge from historically marginalized communities and reinforcing intellectual imperialism. U.S. abolitionist movements, while critical of state violence, often fail to address how power reconfigures itself. Without addressing deeper structural conditions, abolition risks creating new forms of control rather than true liberation. As someone who migrated to the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor - born in a country shaped by historical trauma from a civil war funded by the U.S. and having been in foster care - I feel a duty to challenge U.S. dominant narratives that continue to cause epistemic violence to our communities.
Imperialism and Global Oppression
I was born in the country where Liberation Psychology was developed during the civil war by Ignacio Martin-Baro. As someone who has studied Liberation Psychology and the history of El Salvador – and as Martin-Baro and other non-U.S. scholars would propose – I believe we must continue to challenge U.S. dominant narratives, theories, and movements that continue to create intellectual imperialism. Dominant U.S. movements and theories do not tend to be universally applicable and fail to address global oppression.
Liberation Psychology, rooted in the lived experiences of people facing oppression in El Salvador is now co-opted by the U.S. – but not without severe consequences. Its history is erased, and its use becomes another tool of imperialism. Let’s not forget that Martin-Baro developed this theory precisely because he criticized mainstream psychology and U.S. dominant theories as they did not address realities lived by Salvadorans. However, U.S. liberation discourse and abolitionist movements erase marginalized voices and extend intellectual imperialism into other cultures and communities without accounting for global oppression. Imperialism continues to operate through intellectual dominance. And as he would suggest - we must continue working alongside the community.
Post-Civil War Context and the Emergent Power Systems
Intellectual dominance is not isolated from the physical violence imposed by imperial powers. The Salvadoran military which was trained and funded by the U.S., killed and tortured civilians, activists, priests, and journalists; the military controlled the government until the 1992 Peace Accords, which ended the war. After the war, power did not disappear – it adapted. The police and military were replaced by privatized security forces, gangs, and U.S.-funded police reforms, demonstrating how repression takes on new forms when deeper structural conditions remain unchanged. The police and military were replaced by new systems of power, control, and repression – each operating under a different name. This is how power could adapt if deeper structures remain.
Critical realism helps us analyze these emergent power systems by emphasizing the relationship between structure, agency, and mechanisms of power. The emergence and shift of power in El Salvador and other countries is not random – it followed historical patterns shaped by colonialism, economic instability, and geopolitical influence. Without rebuilding systems in ways that address the root causes of oppression, existing power dynamics will simply manifest in new ways. It is critical to explore how deep structural transformation—not just abolition—is necessary for lasting change. As seen in El Salvador and other countries, power is not simply abolished but reconfigures itself if deeper structural conditions remain unchanged.
Because social structures are continuously shaped by human actions, the abolition of one system (or a few) will inevitably lead to the emergence of new structures of power. For example, in El Salvador, the weakening of state institutions has contributed to the rise of gangs as alternative structures of governance. Similarly, removing state-run foster care without addressing economic instability and systemic racism could lead to an increase in informal social structures, creating different but equally harmful forms of exploitation.
Furthermore, when analyzing communist and non-capitalists’ countries, we find high rates of crime and/or strict laws. This highlights the limits of abolitionist perspectives and can be too simplistic — crime, power, and control are not just products of capitalism or a few institutions, but of deeper power structures, historical trauma, and state control that perpetuates oppression in new forms.
Structural mechanisms that replace policing such as community justice boards, NGOs, and educational institutions could still reproduce control and hierarchy, much like academia does. We must deconstruct intellectual imperialism by challenging U.S. – centric narratives in abolition and social justice by uplifting knowledge systems from the Global South and historically marginalized communities. Finally, we must ensure that frameworks originating outside of the U.S., such as Liberation Psychology, are applied with their radical critique intact rather being co-opted.
