Culture Talk, The West and Two Methods for Treating the “Barbarians”: African and Muslims “We need to distinguish between two contrasting narratives of Culture Talk. One thinks of premodern peoples as those who are not yet modern, who are either lagging behind or have yet to embark on the road to modernity. The other depicts the premodern as also the antimodern. Whereas the former conception encourages relations based on philanthropy, the latter notion is productive of fear and preemptive police or military action. The difference is clear if we contrast earlier depictions of Africans with contemporary talk about Muslims. During the Cold War, Africans were stigmatized as the prime example of peoples not capable of modernity. With the end of the Cold War, Islam and the Middle East have displaced Africa as the hard premodern core in a rapidly globalizing world. The difference in the contemporary perception of black Africa and Middle Eastern Islam is this: whereas Africa is seen as incapable of modernity, hard-core Islam is seen as not only incapable of but also resistant to modernity. Whereas Africans are said to victimize themselves, hard-core Muslims are said to be prone to taking others along to the world beyond.” (Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, 2004, pp. 17-18) In both cases, it goes without saying that the problem is solely and exclusively theirs. “We”, in contrast, are the epitome of goodness even when we invade, bomb and occupy other countries and steal their resources and murder, maim and torture their peoples.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 20:57:27 +0000
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