Western Ideology Research Articles

The Bloomsbury Handbook of the Internationalization of Higher Education in the Global South

In this review of The Bloomsbury Handbook of the Internationalization of Higher Education in the Global South, Carolina Guzmán-Valenzuela discusses why this book might come to be considered a first port-of-call for recognising that internationalisation of higher education is a narrative firmly rooted in western ideologies and which serves as a totalising imaginary. The book, Guzmán-Valenzuela argues, helps to understand the many faces and dimensions of internationalisation in higher education and invites us to think further about what is appropriate to each country given its historical, cultural, political, educational and epistemic background. For Guzmán-Valenzuela, this is a crucial task.

Kawiyahîtamik kesi wîcehtâsôk: (To Examine in Order to Support/Redirect)

Abstract: Recently, human-service providers across Canada have made conscious efforts toward reconciliation through Indigenizing programming. However, while the delivery of programs has shifted, how they are evaluated remains rooted in Western ideologies and methodologies. In response to the tension created by using Western evaluation methods for assessing Indigenous-designed programs, we have developed an Indigenous program evaluation framework based in nêhiyaw (Cree) teachings and co-created by Elders and Knowledge Keepers. We use an illustrative example to demonstrate how an appropriately developed Indigenous program evaluation framework leads to more comprehensive, accurate, and meaningful data collection, evaluation, and recommendations.

Ibsen’s Arab Journey

This article sheds light on the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s interest in Egypt and the Arab world. It underscores the influence of his tour in Egypt during the opening of the Suez Canal on his works, drawing on the theoretical underpinnings established by Edward W. Said. The study foregrounds Ibsen’s correspondence, plays, and other works that include references to his two-month stay in Egypt and to his encounter with the Arab culture. Ibsen’s references validate the Western stereotyping and ideology that have influenced a wide array of Western writers in the ways they misrepresent and misinterpret the Arab culture, and concomitantly other references mirror a personal force of admiration. Additionally, the article discusses the idea that Ibsen’s sojourn in Egypt did not alter his viewpoint of the Arab culture in general and the Egyptian one in particular which is markedly controlled by the Western stereotyped image of Arabs and their culture.

Legal Civic Orders and Equitable Lived Citizenships

Most modern Western political theories embrace equal citizenship as a normative ideal. Many scholars, however, focus on “legal citizenship” and conceive of equal citizenship as uniformity of legal rights and duties. Others focus on experiences of “lived citizenship” and conceive of equal citizenship as achieving sufficient economic, political, and social standing for persons to be seen as civic equals. Using the United States as its example, this article offers a unifying framework for mapping the relationship of legal citizenship to lived citizenship. It illustrates the value of this framework by using it show why realistic efforts to achieve equal citizenship must aim for not uniform legal rights and duties but instead equity in the possession of economic resources, political representation, and social recognition among different categories of citizens.

Language and identity politics in the American Board Mission church in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT The convergence of Americans and Africans (Ndau and Zulu) at the Mt Selinda mission created a new order that was marked by significant ethical and metaphysical contradictions. Navigating through such a sticky reality with potentially pliable political, linguistic, cultural and social cleavages, American board missionaries adopted strategic interventions that enfeebled the predominant Ndau identity in Chipinge. Using archival data from the mission, government and personal archives, this article argues that missionaries engaged in manipulative language politics that, in addition to pitting African identities against each other, bended, twisted and subverted the revered traditions and normative sociocultural belief systems that had sustained the foundational values of the Ndau identity for centuries. Contrary to Eurocentric literature that extols missionaries’ role in developing African languages and societies, we provide evidence that missionaries instituted linguistic and cultural reorientation initiatives to foist western policies and ideologies upon the church and the school. The upshot of this was the delegitimisation of traditional Ndau identities within the vicinity of the mission as well as the birth of new linguistic, educational and sociocultural identities subservient and apologetic to the cause, principles and values espoused by missionaries in Ndau speaking societies.

COOPERATION OF INSTITUTIONS IN THE DEMOCRATIC STATE. EUROPEAN UNION MODEL

In this study, the author explains the priority position on the agenda of scientists from various segments of social sciences. In the contemporary western political theory from the end of the 1990s, the theoretical and practical resizing of political institutions becomes a priority both within the states and in the regulation of international relations. The analysis of various approaches of political and social institutions allowed the author to conclude that governance, including coalition governance, can be effective in terms of co-working, cooperation, collaboration and active participation of citizens in the decision-making process. Also, the cultural and moral component of the decision factor is important, regardless of the practiced level: local, national, regional, global. The author places the theses promoted by Moldovan scholars at the basis of the activity of the heads of state institutions and of the civil servants.

메이지의 상상, 번역어의 탄생과 한국 수용 - [Nation]이 [국민]으로 번역되기까지 -

This study aims to observe the process of translating the western concept and word entry of “nation” into Japanese, which is the basic concept of modern western ideology. In the mid-1860s, Fukuzawa Yukichi chose the word “國民(kokumin)” among the traditional terms that meant “people”, giving it a modern meaning. Until the mid-1870s, a number of translations were used in Japan, including “國民” and “人民”. Under these circumstances, the Meiji government was responsible for advancing the translation of the word entry “nation” to “國民”. The Meiji government emphasized the word “國民” in an effort to strengthen the centralized system which was centered on the emperor. After the mid-1870s, it became so popular that “國民” was listed as the sole translation of “nation” in major dictionaries. However, in Joseon Korea, the term “國民(국민)” had been used to mean “people under the rule of the king” since before the modern era. The modern meaning of “國民” was first introduced in “Seoyugyeonmun(西遊見聞)” (1895). In the mid-1890s, an undergraduate compilation textbook and an independent newspaper in 1897 enlightened and disseminated the different concepts of the word entry 國民 rather than the traditional 國民. After 1910, it was used not only in textbooks and newspapers, but also in novels. By 1911, it was recognized as a pre-registration word entry.

Ahmed's Journey into Islam: A Critical Response to the Stereotypical Representation of Muslim Women and Islamic Attires in Western Discourse

Muslim women in western literary and non-literary discourse have been portrayed stereo typically as uneducated, submissive, family-bound, segregated, confined to the harem, doubly marginalized and a threat for western ideology. Akbar Ahmed's Journey into Islam demonstrates Muslim women and their roles in Muslim societies based on different geographical contexts. This article attempts to highlight and challenge the stereotypical representation of Muslim women and the distortion of their social attire,such as the veil in media and academic representations. The veil is interpreted as a fundamentalist practice which is, from a Muslim perspective, a defensive mechanism and an empowering gesture. This article explores the true picture of Muslim women and their active roles in various walks of life.

The Planning Profession Questioned: Evidence from the Role and Practice of Planners in Zimbabwe

The planning profession is contested, especially in southern Africa where it remains rooted in colonial political economy, the consequential Western ideologies it poses on African cities, and its seeming failure to address the myriad problems inherent in these cities. In exploring the planning profession in Zimbabwe, this commentary involved document analysis and empirical engagement with planning professionals. It was revealed that the planning profession in Zimbabwe is exposed to and frustrated by multiple factors that complicate the integrity of the professionals and their practice. The commentary contributes to the critical reading of planning’s history and contemporary circumstances in Zimbabwe.

NOISY SOUNDS! It’s a Listening Affair: Jazz Aesthetic, Improvisation, and Womanism in M. NourbeSe Philip’s She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks

Black writers adapted jazz music to “say the unsayable” or employed the “jazz aesthetic,” which includes improvisation, citation, and variation as a stylistic device to distance their literature from European forms of narration. These elements can also be found in M. NourbeSe Philip’s poetry collection She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks (1988) which rigorously challenges the way language and words are perceived. Philip denounces the Western ideology of non-ambiguity, dichotomies, and narration altogether by engaging the reader as jazz musicians engage their audience. What role did music play in the Black resistance? What is the “jazz aesthetic” and how is it incorporated into Black diasporic literature? How does jazz music create community and how did Black female musicians speak up in a rather hypermasculine jazz universe? How does Philip incorporate the jazz aesthetic, improvisation, and womanist thoughts in her poems? And what is the intention of noise, dissonance, and (musical) violence?

The Cambridge Companion to The Federalist

The Cambridge Companion to The Federalist

Human Rights and Strong Institutions: A Study of Amnesty International in Nigeria

Human right is a topical issue globally but attaining it has remained very difficult. Every day, people around the world face different forms of dehumanizing treatment from their governments, multinationals and other groups. For decade too, strong institutions have emerged to fight for the rights of the voiceless and the weak. One of these institutions is Amnesty International (AI). This paper examines the activities of Amnesty International in the promotion and protection of human rights vis-a-vis the nature of operations, contributions and challenges in Nigeria. The paper adopts desk research design, which is based on secondary sources from journals, books and other printed materials. Findings revealed that AI has significantly contributed to the promotion of human rights in Nigeria through different approaches such as advocacy/campaign, governance peer review, shaming-and-naming approach, and support for domestic civil rights groups, among others. However, findings also showed that the main challenges of AI are the negative perceptions of some sections toward the organization as a tool for promoting western ideology and the low awareness and involvement of individuals at the grassroots in developing nations like Nigeria. The paper recommends that the organization intensifies its promotional activities in a manner that would improve its reputation as well as help to educate and provide access for engagement of locals in developing countries.

Decolonising legal education in South Africa: Is it time to press the reset button?

South Africa has, like many other African countries, inherited a foreign legal system. The democratic Constitution of 1996 altered the country’s legal framework such that it became reflective of societal change, while recognising plurality in South African legal culture(s). Owing to the 2015‒2016 #FeesMustFall student protests, another ideological shift in legal education is being precipitated by the changing socio‒political landscape of the country. This shift is framed as decolonisation, which entails shedding the colonial yoke of exclusive western ideologies and thinking, thereby requiring an inclusive educational approach. Such a transformed education would incorporate local African traditions, customs and ideologies that existed prior to colonial imposition. Legal thinking and culture is dependent on legal education, and legal education is consequently reliant on the legal framework. Considering this chain of influences, I argue that decolonisation cannot be achieved merely as a change in legal education alone: it requires an ideological shift in the country’s legal framework.

Beyond the Binary: Troubling Blackness through an Exploration of Institutional and Individual Identity Construction in Ghanaian Higher Education

The influence of Western ideologies in Ghanaian higher education is undeniable and scholars have long called for a reframing of higher education policies to reflect the desires, culture, and institutions of Africa. Using a historical and reflective narrative approach, this article explores institutional identity within the higher education context in Ghana, West Africa. Because U.S. policy theories often attempt to ignore the influence of values on the policymaking process, this article aims to understand how institutional identity in higher education is influenced by conceptions of race. Revealing that her individual notions of identity are fluid and a product of both Western and African beliefs, the author concludes that her willingness to challenge these concepts was deepened after being immersed in the Ghana Study Abroad in Education experience and in (re)membering her African cultural connections and concludes with policy recommendations for balancing the needs of identity development with a culture of institutional collectiveness.

A systematic review of evidence-based psychological interventions and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

ABSTRACT Objective Limited empirical literature exists examining the application of evidenced-based psychotherapies when working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Further, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s view of Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) differs to Western ideologies of mental health. In the present study, a qualitative systematic review explored evidenced-based psychological therapies with Indigenous clients. Method A systematic review was conducted using the PRISMA framework. A total of 12 articles that met criteria for inclusion in the review were extracted through hand- and database searching. Therapies identified in the articles included Narrative Therapy (NT), Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance-based Therapies (ACT) and Multisystemic Therapy (MST). Results CBT was the most commonly reported therapy in the review. Three articles, rated lower in quality, also identified NT. Although limited in quantity, acceptance-based and strength-based therapies and MST were also identified as having cross-cultural applications. Conclusions While, CBT, ACT and MST have been used when working at the cultural interface with Indigenous people, further empirical evidence with outcome data is required. Such evidence is required to assess acceptability and suitability of such psychotherapies and for clinicians to provide culturally responsive practice when working with Indigenous people.

What Happened to the Public Spaces of the Arab World? From Colonisation to Revolution: The Case of Lebanon

Public spaces were first introduced into the Arab world through colonial authorities in a vision to “modernise” what was seen as “oriental cities”, since the 19th century until today. However, this process was brought under severe political, social, cultural, and economic circumstances. In the due date, the imported western models of public spaces were superimposed on the existing fabric, dismissing any of those components, which left public spaces to their tragic fate in the Arab cities. In that context, they were also snatched from their democratic and civic nature under the dictator regimes. The paper will be divided into five sections, starting with a look at the historical evolution of public spaces under colonisation, then it will take Beirut, Lebanon as a case study; a city that was torn by war and patched by western ideologies following the m­odernist movement. This will take a critical approach by looking at several players in the process of implementation of public spaces in Beirut. One of these being Solidere and its reconstruction plans of the city centre of Beirut after the civil war (1975-1990), which was heavily influenced by the western models of public spaces. In the third section, a comparative study between Piazza del Duomo in Italy and Martyrs’ Square in Lebanon will set a wider understanding of the product of this evolution. Eventually, the paper will analyse the impact of the Lebanese revolution (2019) on reclaiming the public spaces for the people, similar to other revolutions in the Arab world that date back to 2011, through examples like “The Egg”, Samir Kassir Garden and Martyr’s Square. By the hands of the revolutions, the people were able to domesticate what did not reflect their identity, culture or needs, and transform them into inclusive spaces for everyone from all races, classes and backgrounds as an opportunity to set a collective vision for the future. By that, a look and a recommendation for the future of the public spaces in the Arab world, especially Beirut, will take place through a concluding section.

A meta ethnography of the cultural constructs of menopause in indigenous women and the context of Aotearoa/New Zealand

The researchers aim in this synthesis is to interpret the cultural constructions of menopause in Indigenous women and apply these interpretations to the context of Māori women in Aotearoa/New Zealand. There is a lack of research about Indigenous women’s interpretations of health, and how culture mediates understandings and experiences of menopause. There is even less research regarding Māori women’s understandings and experiences of menopause, as the discourse is dominated by Western ideology. Using meta ethnography methodology, the researchers selected eight studies, that provided the foundations to enable the interpretation of the cultural constructions of menopause in Indigenous women. The findings were then translated into four metaphors- natural, cultural protection, freedom and idiomatic and then were subsequently translated to Māori concepts mana wahine, Mātauranga Māori, tikanga and pepeha. We suggest that broader mainstream understandings of the cultural constructions of menopause for Indigenous women are necessary to provide equitable health outcomes for Māori and other Indigenous women. The researchers further developed a model that can be used to represent the foundations of Māori women’s conscious understandings and experience of menopause.

Occupational Justice-Colonial Business as Usual? Indigenous Observations From Aotearoa New Zealand: La justice occupationnelle : sous régime colonial comme d'habitude? Observations d'autochtones d'Aotearoa en Nouvelle-Zélande.

Western ideologies and systems of occupation and justice are implicated in the colonization of indigenous peoples worldwide. Yet, colonialism, racism, and privilege are minimally acknowledged and examined within occupational therapy and occupational science literature, as evidenced in uncritical development of notions of "occupational justice." First, to open a discussion of how and why theories and approaches to justice have developed as they have in Aotearoa New Zealand. Second, to further a burgeoning field of Indigenous perspectives and critiques of colonial theorizing within the profession, while highlighting local Indigenous justice frameworks including Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Matike Mai Aotearoa. Colonialism is minimally examined in occupational justice approaches and promotion. Honest examination of colonialism alongside Indigenous justice frameworks can advance critical praxes of decolonising occupation and re-connect occupation with justice and equity.

Suggestions for Critical Awareness, Accountability, and Transformation in Human Rights Education

Human Rights Education exists as an implementing entity of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Scholars such as Andre Keet and others have criticized the dissemination of universal rights through education because it covets Western ideology over local ethical and epistemological constructs. Using Tibbitts’ revised typologies of Human Rights Education, this paper offers suggestions for critical pedagogy for the teaching of, for, and through Human Rights. These suggestions are drawn from examples of critical practice from throughout the world.

The Postsecular Turn: Interrogating Postcolonialism after 9/11

Due to its complete reliance on western secular tradition, postcolonial theory has been accused of secular bias manifested in its negligence of spiritual and religious epistemologies. Having its methodological roots in forms of the secular – liberal humanism, Marxism, the western university – postcolonialism has largely ignored a spiritual dimension. Put differently, inspired and influenced by western ideologies such as Marxism, nationalism, postmodernism and secular humanism, as well as Edward Said’s concepts of secular criticism and the secular intellectual, postcolonialism has downplayed and rejected religion as a subject of concern in favour of secular thought, defining its intellectual and political project in opposition to the term “sacred”. However, owing to the global return of religion from “exile” (especially after the 9/11 attacks), postcolonial critics and theorists have started to engage with the question of religion and spirituality. They have recognized the significance of the religious and the spiritual as modes of postcolonial intervention. This essay attempts to highlight the postsecular turn within the field of postcolonial studies. My argument is that due to the contributions of non-western postcolonialists and their acknowledgement of religion as a postcolonial category of analysis, postcolonialism has become postsecular, furnishing a room for both the religious and the secular so that they may enter into an academic critical dialogue. This gradual process of change from a secular postcolonialism to a postsecular postcolonialism is reflected in postcolonial writers’ inclusion of spiritual and religious matters in their literary and theoretical narratives.