Saturday, January 13, 2007

The dubious term called Westernization - I

Westernization is an absurd term.

- Many of the the cutlural aspects attributed to West had their beginnings elsewhere or had independent origins in non-European countries.
- The adoption or acculturation of these cultural aspects in mainstream by non-European countries make a generalization that those societies, prior to that, cultivated their own cultural aspects. This is not only wrong when it comes to majority of the population but also humiliating for those people in many countries. The west was fortunate that it escaped from its own culture in the lines of India, China etc...
- Westernization is an evil and cunning term.
- Non-European who thinks s/he is "Westernized" or who opposes something what s/he calls "Westernization" are both wrong and nonsensical.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I like this thought. Many so-called Western ideas are not necesarily Western at all.

As discussed by you (and me in a comment) in another post, many Western ideas (of Greek origin or mediation, for instance) have their roots in Asia or elsewhere.