The West and The Rest- anthropology
‘If the Rest was necessary for the political, economic and social formation of the West, it was also essential to the West’s formation of both its own sense of itself – a ‘western’ identity – and of western forms of knowledge’ (Stuart Hall, ‘The West and the Rest: discourse and power’, in Formations of modernity, Stuart Hall and Bram Gieben (eds), 1992, p. 138). Discuss with reference to the history of anthropology.
The idea of ‘the west’ or ‘western’ culture is vague and has been for centuries. ‘The west’ is a very complex idea taking factors into account other than just geography or their placing in the world, therefore there is no simple definition or meaning. It is also unclear about which countries belong to the ‘west’ as many countries worldwide are continuing to grow economically. The term arose in Western Europe, originating with Greece and Rome, but spread soon after this and now includes many different countries. However, it is vague where the eastern world or the ‘rest’ starts, as some eastern European countries are not considered to be in the ‘western world’. There are also anomalies, such as Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea which are all eastern countries but are considered to be in the west because of their economic, political and military links to Western Europe and the USA. Latin America while situated in the west and so close the United States is very much thought of as third world as these links do not really exist. Nowadays, the western world is associated with a high standard of living and many countries strive to be considered western or part of the western world. After the break down of feudalism in the 16th century there were features that became apparent which countries in the western world shared e.g. they were all ‘developed, industrialized, urbanized, capitalist, secular and modern’. (Hall, 1992, p.277) The `west’ is therefore an idea or a concept. This means that we can split societies into ‘western and ‘non western’
The idea of ‘the west’ or ‘western’ culture is vague and has been for centuries. ‘The west’ is a very complex idea taking factors into account other than just geography or their placing in the world, therefore there is no simple definition or meaning. It is also unclear about which countries belong to the ‘west’ as many countries worldwide are continuing to grow economically. The term arose in Western Europe, originating with Greece and Rome, but spread soon after this and now includes many different countries. However, it is vague where the eastern world or the ‘rest’ starts, as some eastern European countries are not considered to be in the ‘western world’. There are also anomalies, such as Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea which are all eastern countries but are considered to be in the west because of their economic, political and military links to Western Europe and the USA. Latin America while situated in the west and so close the United States is very much thought of as third world as these links do not really exist. Nowadays, the western world is associated with a high standard of living and many countries strive to be considered western or part of the western world. After the break down of feudalism in the 16th century there were features that became apparent which countries in the western world shared e.g. they were all ‘developed, industrialized, urbanized, capitalist, secular and modern’. (Hall, 1992, p.277) The `west’ is therefore an idea or a concept. This means that we can split societies into ‘western and ‘non western’
Bibliography: (Hall, Stuart, ‘The West and the Rest: discourse and power’, in Formations of modernity, Stuart Hall and Bram Gieben (eds), 1992, p. 138) (Hall, Stuart, ‘Modernity: An Introduction to Modern Societies’, 1996, UK) (Burke, Edmund, ‘ History of America’, 1777, UK) (The Oxford Dictionary, 2011, UK)