Author Description

"The End of the West is an interdisciplinary work that broaches the problem of Western ethnocentrism in contemporary social and political theory. More specifically, this book critically addresses what has recently been called the 'end' of the West in many contemporary public discourses. Meighoo argues that although this claim might appear to challenge the teleological conception implied in 'the West,' it only entrenches this concept further insofar as it presumes that there is a 'West' to begin with. This teleological concept of the West is based on the idea of a continuous tradition extending all the way from ancient Greece to modern Europe and its colonial settlements, a tradition that is distinguished from all non-Western traditions by its guiding principles of reason, progress, and freedom--a tradition, however, that is finally approaching its end, for better or worse. What the author is arguing, then, is that even the most anti-ethnocentric discourses on the end of the West continue to rely on the intrinsically ethnocentric concept of the West itself. The book thus promises to make a substantial contribution as well as a timely intervention into the academic fields of postcolonial theory, continental philosophy, cultural studies, and the history of ideas. The fields of postcolonial theory and continental philosophy in particular have been marked by a radical interrogation of Western ethnocentrism, racism, and colonialism. The book offers a critique not only of teleology but also of 'negative teleology.' For whether the West is hailed as the source of all historical progress or exposed as the root of all cultural imperialism, the discourse of negative teleology ultimately reaffirms the ethnocentrism that it is meant to overcome"--Provided by publisher.