Critical Review

Amartya Sen,  “West and Anti-West” in Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2006, pp. 84-102.

“West and Anti-West” is a chapter of a book entitled Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny, written by Amartya Sen, a Professor of economics at Harvard University. In the chapter, Amartya focuses on discussing the emerging phenomenon of resistance to westernization which takes form in anti-Western rhetoric ranging from “the championing of Asian values to insisting Islamic ideals.” Although Amartya acknowledges that obsession with the West is due to the history of colonialism, he mainly argues that postcolonial hostility to the West is caused more by colonized mind than a reaction to actual colonial abuse. The writer’s descriptions seem to be convincing as he raises different cases of colonized countries to support his argument. However, relying much on the dialectics of colonized mind as the main factor of anti-West in today world seems to be an unbalanced explanation as the growing reactions to the West, noticeably the US, is considerably precipitated by its ongoing abuse over subordinate countries.

            At the outset of the chapter, Amartya points out that postcolonial disaffection toward the West is correlated with the colonial maltreatment, exploitation, and humiliation in the past. For the writer, the impact of historical colonization has “generated a strong sense of humiliation and an imposition of perceived inferiority” in the part of subordinate countries. In Africa, for instance, the slave trade and colonization over the last few centuries have left a negative legacy that destroys old institutions and social confidence.         

            The writer also argues that colonized mind, as the result of fixation of the West, leads to “reactive self-perception” which has had extensive effects on current affairs. In this respect, he raises an example of the proponents of “Asian values” such as Lee Kuan Yew who value discipline and order for themselves while attributing liberty and individual rights for the West. Furthermore, Amartya exemplifies South Africa in which people are skeptical of “Western science” as the impact of historical apartheid policy, which discriminated indigenous Africans. Finally, he describes Islamic fundamentalist movements, as another case, which perceive themselves as the “other” that lead them to show opposition to the West, whom they perceive as the personification of the “Great Satan”. For the writer, all these seem to be articulations of the so-called “reactive non-Western identity.”

            In response to the writer, I found that his arguments are aiming to alleviate the tension or hostility between the West and non-West society. In other words, he seems to counter the thesis of “clash of civilizations” raised by Samuel Huntington. However, the approach he uses in the chapter tends to contain some weaknesses. First of all, he tends to blame the victims who still preserve colonized mind instead of criticizing the West who brought destructions and humiliations in colonized countries. Victims in this regard are the non-Western society who adversely suffered from Western colonization. Even though he presents the negative impacts of Western colonization, the writer still seems to be unbalanced in presenting both sides as he largely emphasizes the colonized mind factor. Secondly, in analyzing the root cause of anti-West movement the writer tends to separate colonized factor and reaction factor while highlighting the first one and overlooks the latter. This can be seen in his statements, “It would be a mistake to try to see postcolonial disaffection toward the West as just a reaction to actual colonial maltreatment,…There is more to postcolonial alienation than a reaction to the real history of abuse. His approach seems to be quite confusing for the readers since both factors are interrelated to each other. What I mean is that colonial abuse and colonized mind should be seen as integrative factors for the emergence anti-West movement.

            In conclusion, arguments raised by the writer in seeking the cause of anti-West movement tend to be unbalanced as he seems to merely stresses colonized mind factor that in turn has a tendency to blame the non-Western society. However, his attempt to criticize the anti-West movements, as one way to alleviate “clash of civilization,” should be highly valued as it will paves way for a peaceful   world.