Zed Books – The End of Conceit : The Socjournal

Dr. Michael Sosteric | Aug 16, 2012 | Comments 0

He is a refreshing admission of failure. Western social thought sucks and has failed to provide solutions to any “of our most pressing domestic social and economic issues.” Well duh. Natural science may have been successful at ramping up the technological quotient of this world, but social thought has done nothing but goggle the environmental, psychological, emotional, and spiritual disaster that has resulted. We definitely need a new way of thinking about the world. Still, and sadly, I’m pretty sure you wont’ find it in this book.

[amazon_enhanced asin=”1848135572″ container=”div” container_class=”bookbox” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /]Has Western rationality reached its limit?

In this radical new book, Patrick Chabal reveals how the future of the West is now inextricably linked to that of the non-West. The book argues that the postcolonial challenge, as well as the influence of non-Westerners now living in the West, have combined to expose the restrictions of Western rationality – that is, the theories and concepts that are currently used to understand and act upon the world.

Discussing such provocative questions as ‘Is it a good idea to build mosques in Europe?’ and ‘Is Beckham the new black icon?’, Chabal explores the growing failure of Western social thought to explain many of our most pressing domestic social and economic issues. He also debates contentious issues in international relations, such as the legitimacy of enforced democracy and the existence of universal human rights, picking apart Western arrogance in favour of a more nuanced and egalitarian approach.

Chabal concludes that, ultimately, what the West needs is not more and better theory but an entirely new way of thinking – one that will put an end to its current deep-seated conceit.

The End of Conceit: Western Rationality after Postcolonialism by Patrick Chabal is published by Zed Books,

priced £14.99/$26.95, ISBN 9781848135574.

For more information or to request a review copy
please contact Ruvani de Silva on 020 7837 8466 or [email protected].

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