Western Hegemony Research Articles

(Re)Imagining Anglo-American Relations: Natural History, Sport Hunting and Scientific Imperialism in the Vernay-Faunthorpe Indian Expeditions of 1922–29

From December 1922 to February 1929, two Englishmen, Lieutenant-Colonel John Champion Faunthorpe and Arthur Stannard Vernay, led six expeditions to the Indian subcontinent to collect animal specimens for the newly refurbished American Museum of Natural History in New York City. This article argues that the Vernay-Faunthorpe Expeditions were an expression of a new form of Anglo-American relations that engaged the language of scientific knowledge in maintaining Western hegemonic influence in the early twentieth century. Inspired by genuine scientific objectives as much as by aspirations to reassert Western hegemony in a time of rising nationalism and declining imperial influence, this timely collaboration reimagined imperialism beyond territorial expansion, but in the discursive spaces of indigenous nature and wildlife exhibitions.

Elements of Сritical Theory in BRICS: An evaluation of BRICS’ critique of global affairs

In the 1980s, Robert W. Cox (considered the “father of Critical Theory” in IR) envisioned that a counter-hegemonic movement could arise in the future from the multilateral alliance of less privileged States, which could resist the dominance of the central powers of the system. Almost three decades later, the 2008 Financial Crisis, the decline of the US hegemony (propelled by its unilateralist actions) and the rise of emerging economies all over the world resulted in a scenario of transformation and redistribution of power in international relations. In that context, a reformist movement driven by developing countries (some of them located geographically distant from one another), especially by the BRICS nations, voiced new demands for democratization of global governance at the international level, contesting the US and Western hegemony in world affairs and the underrepresentation of less-privileged States in important multilateral organizations. From the analysis of the conceptual framing of Critical Theory to the context behind the inception of BRICS and its positions in international relations, this article aims to explore the elements that could possibly connect the group to the interpretations undertaken by Critical Theorists, showing that the group does hold certain positions that can allow such an association.

Democratic Development Trends in the Countries of the South Caucasus Region

The Caucasus region includes the North and South Caucasus. The author analyzes only the theme of the South Caucasus, which is also called the Caucasus. Democratic development processes in the countries of the region are threatened by permanent con-flicts. This is especially the decades of war in the Nagorno-Karabakh province. The South Caucasus sub-region is characterized by the complex structure of the population as a result of historical circumstances and crisis geopolitical trends, as a result of sever-al-year confrontations of great powers in a given area. These countries are located in the southeastern borders of the European Union and belong to Europe and Asia, while the availability of energy resources initiates conflicts with Russia, which considers this area a sphere of vital national interest. Common to all of these countries is the presence of the frozen conflict which is a result of multi-level controversies, territorial misunder-standings and inter-ethnic contradictions. There is also a traditional attempt by Western hegemony to master the observed spaces.

The Chinese Marxist Approach to Human Rights

The Western liberal view of human rights has been imposed by the West on the rest of the world as universal values applicable to all cultures and traditions. This paper argues that the Chinese Marxist approach provides an alternative conceptualization of human rights, which entails anti-hegemonic sovereignty, and prioritization of social and economic rights over others. It begins with distinction between false universal and genuine universal to illustrate that the West-promoted universal is false rather than genuine. Western liberal view of human rights is critiqued, followed by different perspectives on sovereignty and human rights. Anti-hegemonic sovereignty, this paper maintains, is a prerequisite for human rights improvements. The right to socio-economic well-being is a top priority for the Chinese government, as Chinese cultural traditions, Confucianism for example, value social and economic rights. The West-touted human rights discourse is intended to retain Western hegemony and seek global dominance. The Communist Party of China (CPC) has strived for human rights on behalf of the Chinese people through such projects as reform and opening-up, poverty alleviation, common prosperity, and Belt and Road Initiative, among other programs. This paper concludes that the Chinese Marxist approach goes beyond the debates over cultural relativism and Western-style “universalism”, and provides an alternative that features genuine universality and privileges the right to socio-economic well-being.

The Hot Peace in Indo-Pacific: Contesting Quadrilateral Security Dialogue Against Chinese Geopolitics in the Indian Ocean Region

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is a strategy to contain China which has now reached the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as part of the Chinese geostrategy in the Indo-Pacific to counterbalance US and western hegemony. The dynamics brought by the minilateral realm and bilateral conflicts within the Indo-Pacific have contributed to the shaping of the region's security architecture. This article discusses the contentions between India - China competition; ASEAN, Quad, and the implications to IOR; and how the Quad Plus notion is affecting further geopolitical deliberation in the Indo-Pacific. The article concludes that the Quad is an important platform for years ahead and the rising notion of the Quad Plus will remain as the future challenge for both sides. This may redefine the Indo-Pacific concept itself, however, it is assured that ASEAN will play as a collaborative agent to China and the Quad, while also prioritise their interests over the region.

Islam and Hegemony of Local Culture

A global world is a paradoxical world, just like a "double-edged sword". On the one hand, globalization offers a variety of ease of life. On the other hand, it carries risks that threaten the existence of human life. It also imposes a universal culture which implies a general view that the presence of culture is always inseparable from humanity and the general acceptance of values, beliefs, orientations, and institutions by mankind around the world. However, the so-called universal culture is nothing but the West because the West, with all its superiority, is most likely to claim itself as the representation of universal civilization. When civilization is fully controlled by the West, there is a psychological burden for Islam. Islam as a force that had been a superpower of the world for approximately 12 centuries might feel uncomfortable to be the underdog. This situation has made Muslims aspire to get out of colonialism and Western hegemony. There are two responses that arise: a strong desire to re-excel in all aspects such as science, technology, politics, economy, military, etc. on the one hand, and deep hatred towards the West one the other hand. It is this latter which may have spawned terrorism that is being countered by international communities, mainly Western nations.

Sejarah Sosial Reformasi Pendidikan Islam

Abstract; This paper will describe the meaning of Islamic education reform, the real condition of Muslims, The outline of Islamic education reform. Along with changes in state configuration and political reforms in several Islamic countries that often occur in Islamic countries or countries with a majority Muslim population also have an impact on changes in educational formation where these changes occur. An inevitability is that where there is a change there are also challenges in the conditions of that change. In this case the Islamic State we mean there are two first terms, the Islamic State in the sense of a State whose principles and laws use Islamic teachings as sources.
 In the Middle Ages, Islam in a period of decline, Western hegemony almost occurred in all Muslim-majority countries. The Muslim community is starting to realize the situation they are facing. Especially the backwardness of Islam in developing outside the truth of revelation. Islamic countries were colonized by Europeans.
 Therefore, Muslims are forced to let go of the shackles and stranglehold of the west. With that, the Islamic community began to overhaul the pattern of thinking through educational institutions. Here, it is hoped that Muslims will start thinking about the independence of the nation, political culture and education

Sasandu Gong and Sasando Violin: Changing the Pentatonic Scales to Diatonic

This study aims to determine the main causes of changes in the scales that occur. Changes in the scale of the Sasando musical instrument are influenced by mass culture, popular culture and the development of the market industry which has led to the tendency of the people of NTT, especially the city of Kupang to lead to Western lifestyles as if starting to leave local traditions. Values, meanings and social functions of Sasandu Gong are diminished and will even disappear in future generations. The influence of colonialism is assumed to be the cause of the people of Kupang prefer something modern than local wisdom. Some articles, journals, books and even websites often talk about the implementation of local cultural values as a cultural heritage and traditional art which is the identity of the Indonesian people. The author uses the concept of Leela Gandhi and Edward Said in general to discuss efforts to undermine Western hegemony, in which the domination of Western powers over the Eastern world considers the East as weak and full of imagination. The qualitative method is used as an exploratory approach that relies on in-depth data analysis in the form of text obtained from the speakers. The research results are discussed in three (3) stages. First, from the Postcolonial perspective that the change occurred starting from the history of the entry of Christianity into East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) by the Dutch people. Second, musicologically, Sasando Violin experienced the development of scales with several variations made by Mr. Drs. Djony L. K. Theedens. Third, the physicality of the sound of the Sasas Gong changes in shifting functions, values, and meanings that existed before.

‘We read Hamlet together’

Inspired by Said’s methodology of contrapuntal reading, this article examines Edward Said’s reference to Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1604) in his memoir, Out of Place (1999) to shed light on his experiences of exile and displacement. We contend that Hamlet gives voice to Said’s incestuous desire and his inability, like that of Hamlet, to live up to the standards required of him by his dominating father who, like Hamlet’s father, is a ghostly figure that dominates Said’s life even after his death. We argue that while Said points out that Shakespeare is an extension of imperial authority, his readings of Hamlet with his mother destabilises the colonising force of Shakespeare and displaces Western hegemony over performance and interpretations.

Academics' conceptions of higher education decolonisation

The urgency for a decolonised university curriculum in South Africa, occasioned by student protests, demands interrogation of conceptions of decolonisation academic staff hold, seeing that the design and implementation of decolonised education rests largely with them. To determine the academics’ conceptions, the study adopted the interpretivist paradigm, using semi-structured interviews to solicit data from 13 purposively sampled academic staff at a South African university. Data analysis took a grounded analysis approach, where content analysed categories/themes emerged from the transcribed and coded data, not from apriori assumptions. Findings reflected both the conception of decolonisation as recentring and decentring. Findings also pointed to the ubiquitous use of the terms Africa and African(s) in defining decolonisation, conflating Afrocentric philosophy and Africanisation with decolonisation. Such findings represented the conception of decolonisation as a recentring of curriculum from the West to Africa as the centre. Other academics’ conceptions also represented a decentring of knowledge from Western hegemony without necessarily recentring it to African hegemony. Much advocacy was for achieving equality and parity between extant knowledges and hitherto marginalised local knowledges. There was also a manifest vacillation in respondents’ conception of decolonisation as they responded to the different questions, almost evincing a continuum between what can be termed a hard version and a soft version of the concept. The study recommends broader, intensive, institutional discussion of conceptual issues around curriculum decolonisation prior to implementation.issues around curriculum decolonisation prior to implementation.

Recognizing the Wealth of Knowledge in Inuit, First Nations, and Métis Communities

In this interview, Carol Rowan recounts how she moved up North to Inukjuak, because she sought to live and learn with Inuit. Following her union with Jobie Weetaluktuk in 1984, and the subsequent births of their three Inuit children, she developed pedagogical approaches informed by and rooted in Inuit ontologies and epistemologies. She discusses how written and spoken Inuktitut language holds culturally specific content. Moreover, she shares how living with land, engaging with Elders, speaking in Inuktitut, and using local materials of the place can serve to displace prevailing Western hegemony with deeper, more intimate understandings of local environments and lifestyles.

Learning Chinese: Walter A. Taylor, an American Architect in China (1923–27)

AbstractThe American architect Walter A. Taylor, who was an Episcopal missionary in China from 1923 to 1927, intended to ‘desig[n] churches and other buildings that were Chinese and belonged to China’.2 Taylor found himself at a crossroads, between Christian architecture in his home country, the USA, which was experiencing a time of transition, and the birth of the Chinese Republic and its strong rejection of Western hegemony. This article investigates how Taylor tried to undertake his task, where he found inspiration and what this indigenized architecture looked like. I argue that, although his work aimed at participating in the shift towards indigenization, it bore the signs of Chinese culture as seen through the eyes of a Westerner and imperialism.

Behind the trend of Englishing the business names in Aceh, Indonesia: A postcolonial analysis

This study critically analyzes the recent trend of Englishing shop names in Aceh province. Borrowing Bhabha’s postcolonial theory, this study attempted to uncover the shop owners’ perceptions of privileging English and marginalizing local languages, even though their customers are mostly local. Data collection was by taking pictures and interviewing 20 owners of the shops, four females and 16 males. Results show that the 120 shop names in Banda Aceh and surrounding it are in English, modified English and Indonesian ordering, hybridized English and Indonesian ordering, hybridized English Acehnese language and English, English and English ordering, and mixed owner’s names and English ordering. They voluntarily mimicked the Western culture by using English names because they believe that English is marketable, modern, practical, flexible, familiar, and short for shop branding, while the local language looks not modern, unpractical, and weird. In conclusion, most shop owners in the two districts in Aceh negotiate the Western hegemony for the economic benefits.

Western Hegemony and Russia’s Eurasian Turn

According to some perspectives, it is difficult to imagine the collective West developing further relations with Russia beyond the regulatory and systemic – rather than the social – so long as their political systems remain divergent. At the same time, continued elements of Russian “Europeanness” raise fundamental questions about the future role and pre-eminence of liberal states – including Canada – in the contemporary international order, seeing as the Western-led liberal order appears to have failed to become synonymous with global order itself. As such, Russia remains a good case study for probing the extent to which a future world order must root itself in a monist frame in today's pluralistic world. This paper will seek to explore this question from a perspective rooted in the English School of international relations, with the aim of deriving conclusions regarding the liberal international order's ability to maintain its hegemonic position in global international society.

The Contradictions of COVID-19 and the Persistence of Western Hegemony

ABSTRACT Crises brought about by COVID-19 have provided us with a key set of observations about global power in an era where international relations scholars are close to coming to a consensus in acknowledging the decline of Western and specifically American hegemony. This paper adopts a decolonial approach to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on international politics. It argues that throughout much of the Western world, COVID-19 has marked one of the first unexpected encounters with death that populations have faced since World War II and the pre-poliomyelitis vaccine era. As a result, global health policies mandated by the WHO have been articulated in favour of the West. Statistical analysis of death tolls brought about by COVID-19, numerous other infectious diseases and viruses along with associated geographic patterns reveal that quarantine and lockdown policies were carried out at the expense and wellbeing of much of the developing world. Contrary to popular contemporary arguments that contend the international liberal order is in decline, the emergence of COVID-19 and subsequent global health policy responses have demonstrated that Western hegemony and soft power are still salient.

The internationality of published higher education scholarship: How do the ‘top’ journals compare?

• We compare the internationality of Q1 and Q4 higher education journals. • We find that ‘international’ journals may be more concentrated in regions. • Journals with diverse editorial boards have more internationally inclusive content. • Q4 journals are more likely to include research/ers from outside the ‘core’. • Q4 journals facilitate the inclusion and visibility of under-represented contexts. With the trend toward internationalization of higher education systems across the world, international journals play an important role in disseminating research from a diverse range of national contexts. While studies have continued to show a persistent western hegemony in published scholarship, research has largely focused on the most prestigious journals in the field, and it remains unclear how journals from beyond the most elite contribute to geographic diversity. This study makes a unique contribution to the existing knowledge body, through comparative analysis of the internationality (as a product of editorial boards, published authors, authorship compositions, and study contexts) of higher education journals in both the highest quartile of impact (Q1) and the lowest quartile of impact (Q4). The results show that while some journals may orient themselves as international in scope, in practice they may be more concentrated in particular regions. Although Q-ranking was not found to be a clear indicator of geographic diversity, Q4 journals are statistically more likely to include research and researchers from outside of the core anglophone countries, making an important contribution to the diversity of scholarship beyond the dominating western and English-language discourse.

Middle Kingdom Enters Middle East

Through the lens of world-systems analysis, this research argues that Beijing is creating a miniature world-system overlapping with the United States-led world-system via its Belt Road Initiative (BRI). Although China has not yet become a core power, its BRI seems to possess the qualities of a new world-system in the making, within which China enjoys hegemonic traits such as economic and military might and capable alternative institutions. This BRI-bound world-system consists of BRI participant states whose areas and processes are being molded to better fit China as core and hegemon; a phenomenon known as peripheralization. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the Maritime Silk Road Initiative (MSRI) appears to be peripheralizing Arab states into this BRI-bound world-system through China’s growing economic dominance of the region and promotion of new modi operandi. After arguing the emergence of the BRI-bound world-system and establishing China’s peripheralization capacity, Lebanon is taken as a case study of a peripheral MENA state to illustrate how predominant Western hegemony can hamper China’s peripheralization apparatus, forcing it to choose areas/processes of the highest immediate relevance for focused peripheralization efforts.

An Interview with Kris Sealey on Creolizing the Nation

AbstractMichael Monahan, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Memphis, speaks with Kris Sealy about her recent book, Creolizing the Nation (Northwestern University Press, 2020). Drawing on Caribbean, decolonial, and Latina feminist resources, Creolizing the Nation identifies the nation‐form as a powerful resource for political struggles against colonialism, racism, and other manifestations of Western hegemony in the Global South even as it acknowledges the homogenizing effects of the politics of nationalism. Sealey argues that creolization provides a rich theoretical ground for rethinking the nation and deploying its political and cultural apparatus to imagine more just, humane communities.

Egyptology and Global History: Between Geocultural Power and the Crisis of Humanities

Abstract Globalization, the decline of Western hegemony, and the rise of new political and economic actors, particularly in East Asia, are concomitant with the emergence of more encompassing historical perspectives, attentive to the achievements and historical trajectories of other regions of the world. Global history provides thus a new framework to understanding our past that challenges former views based on the cultural needs, values, and expectations of the West. This means that humanities and social sciences are subject to intense scrutiny and pressed to adapt themselves to a changing cultural, academic, and intellectual environment. However, this process is hindered by the gradual loss of their former prestige and by the increasing influence of economics in the reorganization of the educational, research, and cultural agenda according to market-oriented criteria. The result is that the mobilization of the past increasingly conforms to new strategies in which connectivity, trading, and diplomatic interests, as well as integration in dynamic flows of wealth, appear of paramount importance. Egyptology is not alien to these challenges, which will in all probability reshape its very foundations in the foreseeable future.

China Economic Relations with Mauritania in the Age of the Belt and Road Initiative

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania have maintained steady bilateral relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1965. This study examines China’s economic relations with the Islamic Republic of Mauritania in the Belt and Road Initiative era. Over the past years, the PRC has been increasing its presence and engagement with Mauritania’s economy and presenting itself as a reliable financial and investor partner. The main argument is that the PRC’s relationship with Mauritania is based on shared or mutual commercial interests, especially Mauritania’s economic development, industrialization, and social development through integration in the BRI framework. China has collaborated with Mauritania both bilaterally and multilaterally, mainly through the BRI framework, and is also expanding its political power and influence in the country at the expense of Western hegemony.