International relations discuss the relationships amongst countries and the presence of other organisations in the political spectrum. Orientalism is crucial to this post-colonial understanding of international relations. Edward Said addressed this concept of Orientalism in 1978 through his book ‘Orientalism’ and raised arguments like how the partition between East and West is an imagined margin on the basis of an ‘us versus them’ idea and the West’s use of binary opposition between the East and West to demarcate themselves as the superior race and qualifying occupation as their responsibility to bring civilisation to the weaker Orient. He also explains concepts like the oversimplifying of traits linked to the Orientals and essentialising them …show more content…
Critics have argued that the Orient that Said describes all of Central Asia, Turkey, Middle East and North Africa and this contends with the understanding of the assortment and extent of Orientalism (Huggan, G. (2005)). This means that Orientalism becomes a symbol for any type of othering that requires the representation of the ruling supremacy on the other group who are viewed as customarily side-lined, economically not established or, in other words, deficient (Huggan, G. (2005)). This is problematic because such a lax use of the classification; the Orient, has resulted in the revisiting of the binaries that Said insisted on opposing and instead contradicts himself (Huggan, G. (2005)). In my opinion, this criticism is valid because although he does draw on varying cultures like Islam or Hinduism, he fundamentally views the entire region of the ‘orient’ as homogenous and united in being victimised by the West. He does not take into account the varying societies, cultures or geographies of the different countries in the …show more content…
The three main criticisms that I have raised are foundational in proving wrong because it could potentially damage Said’s enterprise. This is because the three main critiques involve 1. The methodology of his Orientalism by making both regions homogenous 2. The relationship between the East and West which he assumes is in the framework of dominant/subordinate but has been proven wrong, this is also crucial for the understanding of international relations because the Orient is not always the weaker region needing help from the West but instead is rising and there is a fair exchange of power 3. The identity of the Orientals: important because it deals with the people in the Orient, and whether Orientalism presents them accurately. With these three criticisms having valid arguments to back them up, it presents to me more clearly that Said’s enterprise is very narrow and rigid and not as relatable as it proves how one-sided Said’s argument is. The fact that Said conveniently negates certain information like the significance of women or is biased towards one viewpoint of victimizing the Orient against the dominant and homogenous West while also homogenizing the Orient and also overlooking the areas of compatibility between the East and the West, proves that his study is very one-sided, rigid and
The former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador Samantha Power, gave a speech on January 17, 2017 on the threat of Russia to the United States. There has been underlying tension between the U.S. and Russia for decades, but there was a period of cooperation between the two nations. Currently the tensions are rising again. The accusations of Russia interfering with the United States’ most recent election, along with other actions done by the Russian government, has put the U.S. on high alert again. The United States has shown signs of both the liberalist and realist state of minds when dealing with international relations and the dilemma Russian has put the United States in.
In a letter to the future President of the United States, Michael Pollan acknowledges the troublesome in food in our society. The future President campaigned on many things, including healthcare and energy. Food is also a main topic that is campaigned. The way that the food industry is currently set up in America is more than corrupt. Their goal is to feed the nation as cheaply as possible.
Katherine DeLong Professor Lampley RSOC 184 December 10, 2015 Final Project During this quarter, we have discussed in depth the interwoven nature of race, nation, and religion. These three concepts have proven to be deeply intertwined, to the point of inextricability. In order to discuss one of the three categories, one must simultaneously consider the repercussions of the other two. This concept has become clearer throughout the course, and it has taught me a lot about how these facets interact.
hroughout history many changes are made in the political systems. Empires rise and fall and other countries get conquered. Asia had some continuity in its political systems, but also many changes. From 600 B.C., to 1450 A.D. many dynasties, leaders, and political systems changed in Asia as well as trying to have some continuity.
Social Forces, 90(3), 993-1022. doi:10.1093/sf/sor024 McConnell, S. (2009). Not so huddled masses: Multiculturalism and foreign policy. World Affairs, 171(4), 39-50. doi:10.3200/wafs.171.4.39-50 Reimers, D.M. (1983).
Philosophy of Orientalism suggests that the West views the East as essentially a feminine and docile region. In Madame Butterfly Pinkerton says “when I leave, she’ll know what it’s like to have loved a real man”, Pinkerton’s notion that there aren’t any real men in the East is what permits men like Gallimard and Pinkerton, who are in fact really awkward around women and not the best looking guys, to believe that they are worthy of the most attractive and perfect of Oriental women. Differences between Western masculinity and Eastern femininity is the belief of Gallimard’s that “Orientals will always submit to a greater force”. Gallimard portrays this submission as friendly and welcoming. Gallimard’s belief allows him to be deceived in
To begin, Said 's essay has quite an interesting quote that pertains to how he believes the past has been neglected. "Bride and groom wear the ill fitted nuptials of Europe, yet behind and around them are the clothes and objects of their native lands." (page 572) It is an interesting quote because it follows how most of Palestine has followed into the modern "European society" - such as: wanting to wear the white gown and tux that are shown in media. Not only does it feel as if Said 's trying to convey how modern society has ruined the values of tradition and culture, but simultaneously, it 's as if he 's angry at modern society for changing Palestine into another westernized country.
The MS School’s approach and methodology were also critiqued which Smith addressed in a 1986 essay where he describes his approach as having been a “naïvely inductive examination of nineteenth-century American attitudes towards the West.” (Symbol and Idea 27) Smith acknowledged that by primarily focusing on literature and avoiding dealing with “conflicts that are ideological in the political sense,” (Symbol and Idea 21) the MS School’s approach had itself evoked a mythic and romanticized image of the West. This point has also been one of the objections from critics of the MS School: that there is a “lack of clarity about the relations between facts and the myths that spun around them.” (Fabian, The West 130) This is also noted by Bruce Kuklick who states that “symbols and myths at best reflect empirical fact, and so are never themselves factual.”
The first great-war shattered the human mind so profound that out of its aftermaths’ emerged a fresh discipline (in 1919 at the University of Whales known to us as International Relations) proposed to prevent war. “It was deemed by the scholars that the study of International Politics shall find the root cause of the worlds political problems and put forward solutions to help politicians solve them” (Baylis 2014:03). International Relations happened to play the role of a ‘correcting-mechanism’ restoring the world order of peace and amity by efforting at its best to maintain the worlds’ status quo. However with the emergence of a second world war much more massive that the first put at stake all the values of that young discipline of IR. The
the Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also the place of Europe 's greatest and richest and oldest colonies, the source of its civilization and languages, its cultural contestant, and one of its deepest and most recurring images of “the Other.” In addition, the Orient has helped to define Europe (or the West). (1) Othering is an inherent classification and differentiation of peoples or cultures. This specific definition of Othering involving Europe and the Orient can be applied to other colonial constructions in which one society defines and reifies its centrality in juxtaposition and in comparison to another, neighboring community: the relationship between North Dormer and the Mountain.
It is an ideology fabricated by the West, Its main factors are the "periodic exclusion of the East from the Western gaze and the continual repudiation of the East in favor the moral and cultural coordinates of the West (Martin & Koda, 1994, p. 9). According to Said (1978), orientalism is a product of the imagination of those people who come to know themselves, their culture and territories as European and later as the West. Said (1978) defines orientalism as a style of thought based on " ontological and epistemological distinction between the 'Orient ' and the 'Occident ' (p.3). According to Martin and Koda (1994), the West 's failure to achieve full comprehension of the East is the reason for the inscrutability attributed to the East.
national politics Adam Watson’s Evolution of International Society gave a new dimension in the understanding of international relations (IR). He deeply studied comparatively the formation of international society and political community of the past which has evolved into the modern world system in his ‘Evolution of International Society’. Unlike Kenneth Waltz views of anarchy as the only system in IR, Watson says there are two systems viz. anarchy and hierarchy. In between these systems is the hegemony which defines the contemporary IR.
In International Relations, various theoretical perspectives are employed to provide a clear framework for the analysis of complex international relationships. One key concept that scholars have strived to fully analyze is “anarchy” and its significance within the International System. Anarchy, as defined by many IR scholars, is the lack of an overarching authority that helps govern the international system. (Class Notes, January 29). Its importance and power to dictate actions between states is often debated and various theories have been used to describe its significance.
Constructivists reject such a one-sided material focus. They argue that the most important aspect of international relations is social, not material. Constructivists have demonstrated that ‘ideas matter’ in international relations. They have shown that culture and identity help define the interests and constitute the actors in IR. All students of IR should be familiar with the important debates raised by constructivists, about basic social theory and about the different ways in which ideas can matter in international relations.
The Theory of Idealism in International Relations. Ojochogwu Aladi Enape Schiller International University. The theories in International relations are assertions that try to explain and justify how international structures work and the characteristics of ever changing interactions across territories.