POLS 3790 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Eurocentrism, Immanence, Gujarati Muslims
17 Feb 2018
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It seems natural for students to assume that the east and the west are necessarily distinct, separable entities. It is generally believed and taught that the west has pioneered the creation of the modern world. However, the idea that the west deserves to occupy the centre stage in world history is questionable. The basic claim of the john hobson text the eastern origins of western civilization is that eurocentric views of history are false. Ho(cid:271)so(cid:374)(cid:859)s thesis is that the east played a crucial role in enabling the rise of modern. The east enabled the rise of the west through two main processes: diffusion/assimilation from east to west of superior technologies, appropriation of anything that was not diffused, westerners took directly what was not assimilated to them. The eurocentric account of world history assumes that the west made it of its own accord due to its superior virtues or properties, and factors unique to its ascendant culture.
