A Decolonial Lexicon for Immunology

The discipline of immunology has historically been foundationally framed by metaphors of war, portraying the body as a sovereign state defending its territory against foreign invaders. This paradigm, however, is not strictly a biological necessity but also a historical artifact of colonial logic that arguably limits our understanding of symbiosis, tolerance, and the nature of relational pathologies. This paper argues for a decolonial paradigm shift, proposing a comprehensive reframing of the immune system not as a military force but as a sophisticated system of communication, governance, and diplomacy within a multi-species community, the holobiont. We trace the colonial genealogy of war metaphors and expose its conceptual inadequacies in the face of modern biology, distinguishing between historical rhetorical resonances and causal scientific developments. Drawing inspiration from relational and ecological philosophies, we then propose a new conceptual lexicon, using the metaphor of the body as a quilombo, a diverse and resilient community. By separating canonical biological mechanisms from metaphorical interpretation, this framework reframes core immunological processes: inflammation becomes an urgent community assembly, the adaptive response a journey of information, and pathologies like autoimmunity, cancer, and immunodeficiency become crises of communication and social cohesion. Offered as a conceptual heuristic rather than a wholesale structural equivalent, this relational approach offers not only new avenues for research and therapy but also serves as a powerful pedagogical tool to foster a more holistic, integrated, and ecologically conscious view of life itself.