Westernization

About: Westernization is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1154 publications have been published within this topic receiving 15791 citations. The topic is also known as: occidentalization.

The Value Shift of the Russian Greens

Abstract: The Green movement in the USSR/Russia has existed for more than forty years. During this period, seven groups have been shaped and consolidated within the movement (the conservationists, the alternativists, the traditionalists, the civil initiatives, the ecopoliticians, the ecopatriots, and the ecotechnocrats). The aim of this article is to consider the value shift each group underwent during the decade 1992–2001 within the context of the broader changes in the Russian society. The article emphasizes key influences conditioning the transformations of values. These include changing of local and national contexts caused by the overall process of society's westernization and globalization, as well as by the changes in each group's positions vis-a-vis the state, market economy, science and local population.

Foucault's Iran and Islamic Identity Politics Beyond Civilizational Clashes, External and Internal

Abstract: Foucault's writings on the Iranian revolution and the works of the revolutionary Islamist intelligentsia (not the clerics) are of tremendous relevance to social scientists today because they show us a way out of the internal clash of civilizations Islam suffers from. By extension this helps alleviate the confrontation between the civilizations of the West and Islam because culture clash—the fear of cultural imperialism and Westernization—is holding back the forces of modernization in the Muslim world. Iran's revolutionary thinkers, as Foucault demonstrates, were against this standoff. Afary and Anderson's review of the Foucault controversy inadvertently brings this out because the mistakes they make are paradigmatic errors made by the social sciences and many Western (and Eastern) decision-makers; assuming that modernization means secularization means Westernization.

Be European, Recycle Yourself!: The Changing Work Ethic in Romania

Abstract: "Westernization" and the prospect of European integration have been formidable catalysts for social and economic change in Eastern European countries since 1989. Full of promises and expectations but lacking economic means and adequate structures, Romanian enterprises have faced particularly difficult problems. Prompted by employees' self-criticism, this book explores the dynamics of work values in the service sector in Bucharest. Based on long term ethnographic fieldwork, the study analyzes the factors determining social and cultural change at the local level, from the impact of Western ideologies and symbolic measures to concrete organizational and economic constraints. Monica Heintz emphasizes the impact of the forced pace of change, which caused social disorder and disrupted individual values. She challenges the notion of a universal ethic of work and argues that what governs relationships between employers, employees and clients in the Romanian context is simply an ethic of human relations. "Monica Heintz" is a lecturer at the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Paris 10- Nanterre (France).

Islam, Nationalism and the West: Issues of Identity in Pakistan

Abstract: A growing interest in political Islam, also called Islamism, has assumed significant ideological and intellectual dimensions especially in the post-Soviet years. Across the globe, both the Islamic ruling elite and dissidents make great use of Islamic symbols to gain wider legitimacy. Unclaimed receptivity for modernity is, however, contrasted with a vocal resistance to westernization. Rather than viewing the ongoing situation as Islam versus the rest, or tradition against modernity, Iftikhar H. Malik's study, without overlooking the tensions, also acknowledges the multiple mutualities. It concentrates on topical issues such as the Rushdie affair, conflictive pluralism in South Asia and its linkages with the crucial regional themes e.g. the Kashmir dispute, the Iranian revolution, civil war in Afghanistan and the emergence of independent Central Asian republics.

Does 'translation' reflect a narrower concept than 'fanyi'? : On the impact of Western theories on China and the concern about Eurocentrism

Abstract: Taking China as a case in point, this paper addresses the concern among some Western scholars that the concept of translation in the European tradition is narrower than in some other cultures so that the spread of Western concepts and theories to the rest of the world is threatening “biodiversity”. A re-examination of the evidence presented shows that this claim is based on a series of misinterpretation of ‘fanyi,’ the Chinese word for ‘translation’. In fact, the traditional concept of translation in China used to be very narrow and rigid. It gradually loosened up only after the transfer of Western translation theories into China, which challenged traditional thinking. Ironically, the concern of the few Chinese scholars who resist Westernization is that the process has put an end to uniformity. As a result of the transfer of Western academic norms and ‘pure’ translation theories, translation research in China has become more sophisticated. The influence of Western ideas in China has caused some concern about Eurocentrism mainly among Western scholars. This concern, however, might itself be Eurocentric since Sinocentrism is the major cause for concern among most Chinese scholars.