Orientalism and Comparative Political Theory

Bibliographic Data

ID6403596
AuthorsMegan C Thomas (corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume72
Issue4
Pages653-677
Publication date2010-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Review of Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-6705 • E-ISSN: 1748-6858
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0034670510000574
OpenAlexW2140109657
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited24

Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Orientalists such as Schlegel and Müller sought to broaden narrow European scholarly horizons by comparing ancient Indian ideas with those of classical Greece and Rome and modern Europe, and thus to transform the human sciences. These aims are similar to contemporary comparative political theory's concerns to remedy the Eurocentrism of the field of political theory and to identify valuable ideas in non-Western sources. These similarities suggest that we ought to revisit our understanding of Orientalism, reconsider how and when epistemological appropriation has political consequences, and recognize the limits of text-based approaches to political theory

Appropriation · Epistemology · Eurocentrism · Field (mathematics · Orientalism · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Theology · Anthropology · Asian Studies and History · Hispanic-African Historical Relations · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy