Western Hegemony Research Articles

Islamophobia and Representation of the West in Pakistani Political Discourse: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Anti-Western Narratives

This study investigates the representation of Islamophobia and the West within Pakistani political discourse, analyzing how anti-Western narratives are constructed by political leaders and media. Through Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), particularly Van Dijk's Socio-Cognitive Approach, the study examines speeches, media statements, and social media posts to identify the linguistic and rhetorical strategies that frame Western nations as antagonistic toward Islam and Muslims. By leveraging the concept of 'othering,' these narratives depict Western nations as both cultural and ideological threats, reinforcing in-group identity among Pakistanis and promoting national solidarity. The research uncovers recurring themes, including the portrayal of the West as inherently Islamophobic and morally divergent, the invocation of religious and cultural symbols to appeal to collective Islamic identity, and the strategic use of emotional appeals and metaphors to solidify anti-Western sentiments. This study contributes to the understanding of how Islamophobia discourse is employed to influence public opinion, strengthen political legitimacy, and unify the nation against perceived external threats. Findings also suggest that anti-Western narratives serve as powerful rhetorical tools in shaping national identity and resisting perceived Western hegemony. Future research might further investigate similar discourses across other Muslim-majority nations to provide comparative insights into the role of political discourse in shaping perceptions of Islamophobia and foreign policy.

Resistance and Christian Ethics in Africa

Colonialism in Africa rewarded individuals who offered no resistance to its ideology and demonized those who did. An effect this continues to have on the African moral imagination is the tendency to idealize compliance over resistance, especially to Western hegemony. Given Africa’s sociopolitical struggles and the consequence of the continent’s ongoing entrapment in the colonial power matrix, I explore ways ethical discourses on the continent can contribute to the ongoing interdisciplinary process of decolonization. In engagement with African literature and decolonial studies on the one hand and liberation ethics on the other, this article proposes a Christian ethics for Africa, discussing resistance as both a moral imperative in postcolonial contexts and a constitutive of the Christian identity.

Early Mamluk scholarship in the Islamic State’s magazine

ABSTRACT This paper traces out all the references to classical Islamic scholarship with the Islamic State’s flagship, English-language magazine. It finds that more than one-third of these relate to one man and two of his students, living in Damascus during the early part of the fourteenth century. This, it is argued, can be explained in four ways. Firstly, the Islamic State uses their work as a basis for its own governance agenda, especially its search for legitimacy and authority. Secondly, it points to their struggles against the authorities of the day as grounds for its more general call-to-arms, notably its focus on recruitment. Thirdly, the Islamic State develops a wider narrative of diachronic comparison to ‘Mongolise’ its opponents and place itself at the vanguard of opposition to Western hegemony more broadly, and to its military policy in the Middle East in particular. Fourthly, it uses the internal divisions of the tumultuous early Mamluk period as a basis for the separatist claim that lies at the heart of the putative Caliphate’s strategy.

International Media Analysis: Critical Analysis Comparing News Reports in Listed West/South Digital Media

This paper delves into the narrative perspectives of Western and Southern media in news reporting on four themes: war, culture, politics, and Olympic sports. The study reveals that Western media (such as BBC and CNN) tend to adopt narratives that align with the Global News Flow theory and the framework of cultural imperialism, emphasizing individual suffering, the consequences of political and military actions, and the global influence of Western values and innovations. In contrast, Southern media (such as CGTN, Al Jazeera, and WION) actively challenge the dominance of Western mainstream narratives by focusing on local perspectives and realities, employing de-Westernized news narratives. They seek to alter the narrative structure of international news and highlight the development achievements and contributions of Southern countries in culture, sports, and other fields. These counter-narratives align with post-colonial journalism theory, offering potential pathways for Southern countries to gain more voice and challenge Western hegemony in the international news domain. This study contributes to uncovering power dynamics in global news reporting and provides insights for addressing cultural hegemony.

Revisiting ‘On Lost Causes’ in a time of genocide

ABSTRACT This article reflects on Edward Said’s late essay, ‘On Lost Causes’ in the context of international education and the urgency of equipping students with a critical framework for reading Western hegemony. Using Said’s theorisation of the objective and subjective components of a ‘lost cause’, the article considers the relevance of the essay’s central thesis to the ongoing struggle for Palestinian self-determination and the possibility of its application in a time of live-streamed genocide.

On decolonising music diversity in/and higher education

ABSTRACT The practice of music diversity is colonialized. Its model is impotent to disrupt the Western canon. On the contrary, the practice has opened the door to sonic materialization and trafficking that has become indicative of the encounter between classical music and other music traditions in higher education. The Global South has become the mining area, while Western institutions “explore” indigenous music to repair the status quo. The thesis of this article is that the current Western curricular approach to music diversity is a reincarnation of the Western hegemony. I adapted a decolonial lens to examine the premises of diversity practice, questioning its model and unmasking its logic. I will interrogate the unbalanced relationship or what Quijano and Mignolo call the “matrix of power.” In doing so, I introduced a conceptual tool - canonity, which is defined and examined alongside the concept of diversity. I argue that diversity represents the other side of canonity, just as coloniality and modernity/rationality are two sides of the same coin. This coinage suggests that musical canonity/diversity is indicative and constitutive of coloniality/modernity. Thus, the article calls for the decanonisation of the epistemic center, delinking from the trajectory of modernity/rationality and shifting the geography of knowledge.

Türkiye-China relations revisited: a neo-Gramscian perspective

ABSTRACT A considerable number of studies have attempted to analyse changes in Turkish foreign policy under the Justice and Development Party administration. These changes triggered the debate about whether Turkish foreign policy shifted its Western orientation. Departing from rising anti-West rhetoric in Turkish foreign policy, this study sets out to explain the recent rapprochement between Türkiye and the People’s Republic of China. From a critical perspective, it proposed a new way of viewing Türkiye’s relations with China as a counter-hegemonic rapprochement reshaped by internal/external dynamics in the post-western world order. Consequently, it shows which ideas, material capabilities, and institutions have played roles in the Erdogan administration’s challenge to Western hegemony by utilizing relations with China.

Exploring challenges and politics of knowledge production in the global South - Evidence from Bangladesh’s aid and development sector

This article takes Bangladesh as a case study and explores the motivations (or lack of), challenges, and politics of knowledge production with a particular focus on development scholarship and practice. This piece is based on qualitative research methods and draws from 25 semi structured interviews with highly experienced and senior Bangladeshi development practitioners and academics. Empirical evidence and consequent analysis presented in this work contribute to the debates around the schism in access to resources, politics of aid, and power over knowledge production. This article also reveals local cultural contexts as consultancy works are perceived to be more financially rewarding. This is manifested through current practices that have created a condition where local researchers and practitioners feel they have no time (or incentive and motivation) to engage in knowledge production. Moreover, this article explores whether one’s race and/or nationality play any role in knowledge production, and how the respondents reflect about these issues based on their lived experience. In doing so, findings of this study further the arguments of structural inequality and colour-blind approach within aid and global development landscape. This article offers a rich account of how existing practices favour staff members from the donor countries and exclude Bangladeshi researchers and practitioners from knowledge production processes. This article also brings forward an important issue which highlights that, as perceived by the respondents of this study, one’s institutional affiliation with prestigious Western institutions might matter more in knowledge production (as we know it) than the content, ideas and credibility of knowledge that are generated in the global South. This article contends that by excluding, rejecting, side-lining, and subjugating knowledges produced in the global South development policies and practices will continue to manufacture a particular type of knowledge that will circumvent equity in knowledge production and perpetuate Western hegemony.

Historicizing the Geopolitics of Education and the SDGs: From Western Hegemony to a Multi-polar World?

This paper seeks to take a critical and historical look at the rise and fall of the SDGs, with a particular focus on education. At the core of the argument is that the SDGs (2015–2030), their predecessor the Millennium Development Goals (2000–2015), and the Education for All movement (1990 onwards) were the product of a post-Cold War, neoliberal, development agenda whose framing and logic were constructed in a moment of unipolar, US-led, Western hegemony, which today is collapsing around us. Geopolitics and global power are changing in important ways and we need to recognize this, and think through ways to ensure that we can support this in the interests of the marginalized global majority, in education and beyond. “Pax- Americana” needs to be replaced with a “Pax-Pluralis” that can underpin new global models of security, development, and growth that can better address the massive global challenges that we face.

Filmic Representation of ‘A Community with a Shared Future for Mankind’ in The Wandering Earth Series

Over the past 4 years, The Wandering Earth series has garnered significant acclaim and recognition within the market and film festival circuits. This study examines The Wandering Earth series, including The Wandering Earth and The Wandering Earth II, through the lens of ‘a community with a shared future for mankind’. Utilising qualitative content analysis, it explores the representation of global cooperation in these Chinese science fiction films, transcending conventional Western-centric narratives. The study reveals a unified international community by analysing film narratives, characters and visual symbolism, focusing significantly on China and non-Western countries’ roles in saving humanity. This approach aligns with global governance and post-colonial theories, highlighting the series’ challenge to Western hegemony and its contribution to the discourse on China’s growing cultural industry influence. This research enriches understanding of Chinese cinema’s role in shaping cultural values and international cooperation, emphasising the potential of the science fiction genre to reimagine global dynamics from a non-Western perspective. Its implications extend to enhancing the global understanding of China’s cultural narratives and contribute to the international dialogue on the evolution and influence of Chinese science fiction films.

Reframing sexual violence against Indigenous women as genocide: Mayan women’s experiences of sexual offenses during Guatemala’s Armed Conflict

ABSTRACT Judgment of sexual violences against Mayan women during the Armed Conflict in Guatemala remains neglected. Justice processes have yearned harassment of victims and judges, sentences overruled, and epistemological barriers distancing the Western judiciary system from Mayan women’s experiences of sexual violence. Judiciary expert reports suppose a dialogue opportunity between epistemic margins and Western hegemony, as they play the role of objectifying the experiences of victims via scientific research methods. Here, I show how using decolonial and communitarian feminism theoretical-methodological approaches builds epistemic bridges. I discuss that sexual offences targeted a subject whose existence supposes a threat to the State’s patriarch-colonialist, and misogynist-racist interests: Mayan women or Ixoq. I argue that sexual violence targeted against Mayan women must be understood as genocide, for it aims at Ixoq’s annihilation in the context of the Ladino Nation Project in 1980s Guatemala. This novel cartographic approach helps building epistemic bridges to ensure hermeneutic justice.

Transcending Boundaries: The Role of Literature in Challenging Social Norms and Redefining Perspectives on Migration and Cultural Marginality Through the Works of Halaby, Lahiri, and Hamid

This study aims to examine the transformative power of literature in challenging prevailing social norms and reshaping perspectives on migration, alterity, and cultural marginalization. Focusing on the novels Once in a Promised Land by Layla Halaby, The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, and Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, the analysis examines the representation of the individual Other, challenging stereotypes, and highlighting the characters’ personal and political traumas. The concept of nowhereness, which stands for the emotional and psychological state of migrants moving in unfamiliar cities, is explored, highlighting the paradoxical experience of simultaneous death and rebirth. The characters in these novels are in a deep state of emptiness, serving as “citizens in waiting and deportees in waiting.” Their experiences in the liminal space of waiting are closely intertwined, creating a shared temporal landscape that enriches the exploration of the complexity of migrants. In this regard, the authors challenge the conventional tactics of silencing voices and concealing images to transform the harrowing ordeals of the Other into a powerful means of social introspection. The authors engage with Western hegemony and imperialism, seeking to inspire understanding and admiration for subaltern cultures that are marginalized by the Western world.

Losing the Battle and Awareness of Unveiling the Postcolonial Struggle Against Western Philosophical Hegemony in Indonesian Aesthetic Textbooks

Objective: The objective of this research is to explore the hegemonic construction of Western philosophical concepts in Indonesian aesthetic textbooks, the methods of their construction, and the factors reinforcing this hegemony. Theoretical Framework: In this topic, can be analyzed through key postcolonial and orientalist frameworks, including Edward Said's concept of orientalism, which examines how Western discourses construct and dominate Eastern identities. Method: This study employs a qualitative research methodology with a naturalistic paradigm, utilizing a hermeneutic approach and descriptive qualitative analysis based on the Miles and Huberman model. Results and Discussion: The results show that Western hegemony is evident in the content of aesthetics textbooks in Indonesia, both in the substantive content domain of the subject matter and the figures. This hegemonic construction is propagated through persuasive methods. The enduring nature of Western-biased knowledge construction, mainly fuelled by the orientalist-postcolonial system, significantly reinforces this hegemony. Therefore, this research underlines the scenario of culture losing the battle and especially the effort to build awareness of unveiling the struggle to overcome the dominance of Western philosophy that is permeating Indonesian aesthetic education. Research Implications: The study reveals that Indonesian aesthetic textbooks heavily feature Western philosophical concepts, constructed, and reinforced through persuasive, non-coercive methods. Utilizing a qualitative research approach, it uncovers that Western hegemony is evident both substantively and in the representation of key figures within these textbooks. This enduring Western bias, perpetuated by orientalist systems, significantly influences Indonesian aesthetic education, highlighting the deep-rooted nature of this hegemonic knowledge construction. Originality/Value: This study offers original insights into the pervasive influence of Western philosophical concepts in Indonesian aesthetic textbooks, highlighting their construction and reinforcement through persuasive methods rather than coercion. Employing a qualitative methodology with a hermeneutic approach and descriptive analysis, it uncovers the substantive and figure-level dominance of Western ideas, driven by orientalist systems. This research contributes valuable understanding of the enduring nature of Western-biased knowledge construction in Indonesian aesthetic education, emphasizing the need for a critical re-evaluation of curricular content.

Civilizations at Odds: The Persistent Conflict Between Israel and Palestine

The question whether the issues in the Middle East stem from a clash of values or from Western imperialist intervention has long been a subject of scholarly discourse. This article posits around the discourse of ‘clash of civilizations’, which is an endeavor to uphold Western hegemony in the Middle East. Furthermore, it contends the narrative, that it functions as a self-fulfilling prophecy, exacerbating ongoing conflicts within the region. A complex interplay of factors encompassing ethnic, national, historical, and religious shapes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The degree to which religion influences non-religious players, the identities of conflicting parties, the practical issues at hand, the relevant legislation, and their attitudes are not well acknowledged. This paper explains why West uses a distorted portrayal of conflicting civilizations as a powerful political tool and the risk of this narrative becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy that reshapes modern politics.

Can China and Russia as ‘Civilisation States’ Emerge as Security Providers in West Asia?

In the recent past, the two self-affirmed ‘civilisation states’, China and Russia, have actively sought to play a role in peace-building initiatives in West Asia and North Africa. The China-brokered rapprochement of Saudi Arabia and Iran in 2023 within the framework of its ‘quasi-mediation diplomacy’, and the Russian proposal for a ‘Collective Security Concept for the Persian Gulf’ in 2019, demonstrate the two states’ proactive approach to bringing stability to the region which was perceived as an Anglo-American area of influence. Today, the idea of Western hegemony in the world, but more specifically in West Asia is challenged by the emergence of non-Western powers like China, Russia, India, and Turkey. The failure of the American interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan and attempts at peacebuilding in West Asia have put the spotlight on waning Western influence in the region. As the US and Europe try to defend the cherished values of liberal internationalism and European cosmopolitanism, China and Russia have reinvented themselves as ‘civilisation states’ and challenge the Western values that had formed the bedrock of global affairs in the last century. Each of them has tried to put forth a model of engagement which draws inspiration from their own cultural and civilisational antecedents. This is a legitimate way for China and Russia to distinguish them from the discredited Western model and popularise the idea of an alternative to the outdated Western one. There is a growing interest in alternate models of engagement in the non-Western world and consequently in support of Chinese and Russian interventions. It is against this backdrop that this paper will explore how China and Russia as ‘civilisation states’ have attempted to build peace and stability in West Asia. The paper will attempt to explore the definitional contours of the ‘civilisation state’ which sets it apart from the idea of the ‘nation-state’ which is rooted in European history and philosophy and is often understood as a Western concept. Subsequently, the paper will attempt to understand the motivations that have driven the two countries to adopt this approach. Next, it will juxtapose the Western model of peacebuilding in the region and underscore the reasons for its apparent failure. The paper will then attempt to explore the possibility of developing a conflict resolution model based on the approaches that China and Russia have adopted and, finally, conclude by examining reasons why this model could work should the two states decide to work together to resolve conflicts and build peace in West Asia.

Negotiating standards in Sino-Mongolian industrial relations

Anthropologists have used ‘standards’ to critique Western hegemony through the centre–periphery extractive paradigm or the top–down imposition of developmental agendas. This article suggests an alternative possibility by considering the agency of local actors through their experience and evocation of standards in industrial workplaces. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork at two Chinese-owned extractive enterprises and a public vocational school in the east of Mongolia, I recast standards as a conduit for local practitioners to express genuine aspirations for improvement. Here, standards embody the ideal more than the average or the bottom line. Chinese enterprises in Mongolia are assessed against local perceptions of the global hierarchy of standards, which is not only underpinned by technical competence but also influenced by socioeconomic, moral, and geopolitical considerations. This article presents emic and etic perspectives on Chinese enterprises in Mongolia, contributing three ethnographic case studies to the discussion about the contested ascent of China as a global standards-maker and standards-shaker. It highlights the distinctive geopolitical situation of Mongolia and suggests broader implications for uneven development in the world economy.

One Universal Civilization: Superiority and Eurocentric Conception of the Rest

The prevailing notion suggests a universal or human civilization, positing all as subsets of a shared human experience. This article critiques this perspective, arguing that the contemporary concept of human civilization is predominantly synonymous with Western civilization. This article will elucidate its argument by drawing upon the insights of Western scholars in the field of civilizational studies. Subsequently, it will undertake a critical examination and assessment of the Western discourse, evaluating its outcomes as evidenced in contemporary foreign policy shaped by the historical backdrop of colonialism. The article uses direct quotations and historical narratives to not only scrutinize the inclination to depict Western civilization as singular, extraordinary, and unparalleled but also to highlight the persistent tendency to undervalue the importance of other civilizations, often termed as 'the rest'. It relies on primary materials authored by Western scholars concerning the notion of civilization, supplemented by secondary references citing influential intellectuals in the field. In addition to primary sources such as interviews and contemporary statements regarding pertinent events, secondary sources encompass literature on civilization within the framework of global south studies. The notion of Western civilization is depicted as a constructed political construct utilized to perpetuate Western hegemony, engender othering, and perpetuate colonialist agendas. This dynamic persists even in the post-Cold War era, wherein ongoing Western hegemony perpetuates dominance over non-Western powers. Instances reflecting this neo-colonialist paradigm include the US intervention in Iraq, the conflict in Afghanistan, and the ongoing Israeli military campaign in Gaza as of late 2023.

Invisibility and Hypervisibility: Rabindranath Tagore and His Self-Translated English Works in the Western World

Abstract Translation inherently involves grappling with cultural, power, and knowledge dynamics. It encompasses the shaping of ideas by those in control and the influence of translation on the perception of cultures, peoples, and texts. While translation can empower marginalized voices, it may also reinforce power imbalances by favoring dominant languages and cultures in colonial contexts. Translation is a crucial instrument in shaping, reflecting, and challenging global power dynamics. Lawrence Venuti classifies translation strategies into domestication and foreignization, associating the former with Anglo-American hegemony and the latter as a challenge to Western cultural dominance. He suggests that these strategies result in different outcomes for translators’ visibility: domesticating translators go unnoticed, while foreignizing translators emerge from obscurity. However, the translation practices in colonial and postcolonial contexts demonstrate that Venuti’s binary categories may oversimplify the complexities of translation activities. Rabindranath Tagore’s self-translation from Bengali into English complicates Venuti’s theory, as both domesticating and foreignizing translations coexist. Tagore, as a translator, and his English audiences engage in both strategies. His foreignization goal, introducing Indian culture to the West, is achieved through domesticating his poetry for acceptance. Simultaneously, his English readers adopt both approaches, connecting Tagore’s writing to the English literary tradition while exoticizing differences. This results in Tagore transitioning from invisibility to hypervisibility, but within two decades, he fades into obscurity in the Western world. Tagore’s experience underscores that pursuing visibility exclusively or relying solely on foreignizing translation strategy cannot effectively challenge Western hegemony. Instead, efforts should be made to safeguard against the pervasive influence of imperial power in the cultural exchange between the non-Western (English-speaking) world and the West (English-speaking world).

Subversive Narratives and Status-Seeking: A Look at Russia's Outreach to the Developing World After the Ukraine War

The amplification of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2022 marked a turning point in relations between Russia and the “Collective West.” Moscow was cut off from Europe and subjected to sanctions and diplomatic isolation. In response, Russia turned to new partners in the Global South (especially in Africa) and intensified its criticism of the Western-dominated liberal international order. It has also unleashed propaganda narratives that depict the existing world system as a hegemonic and oppressive arrangement aimed at preserving the privileged position of the West at the expense of the non-West. This paper contextualizes these developments using the popular Larson-Shevchenko framework of social identity theory. I argue that Russia not only challenges the existing order by invading countries, but seeks to undermine its normative foundations with weaponized narratives, while also cynically attempting to frame Russia's illegal actions in Ukraine as an anti-colonial response to Western hegemony.

Brics Ascendancy: Challenging Western Hegemony in a Globalized World

The global financial milieu has long been characterized by the pre-eminence of the United States dollar as the world's principal reserve currency. Nevertheless, emerging trends indicate the prospect of a paradigmatic shift wherein the dollar's status as a reserve currency may diminish. This study undertakes an in-depth analysis of the factors contributing to this potential transition, with particular emphasis on the ascent of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and their capability to establish a novel financial framework. Drawing upon insights from eminent scholars affiliated with prestigious institutions such as Harvard, Cambridge, Princeton, Chicago, Yale, and Oxford, this research assesses the evolving dynamics of global finance. By scrutinizing historical hegemonic patterns dating back to the 17th century, this investigation offers a comprehensive perspective on the ascendance and decline of dominant currencies and their ramifications on the international monetary system. Through meticulous examination of economic indicators, geopolitical transformations, and institutional advancements, this paper elucidates potential avenues through which the BRICS nations could challenge the hegemony of the U.S. dollar. Furthermore, it explores the feasibility of instituting alternative financial mechanisms to facilitate transactions and investments among BRICS countries and beyond, thereby mitigating dependence on the dollar-centric financial framework. This research, therefore, has culminated in the conclusion that the hegemonic status of the U.S. dollar is poised to diminish before the year 2030.