Overview
- Calls for multicultural perspective ?in political theory, uncovering and overcoming ethnocentric bias
- Starts a critical dialogue with voices that have been marginalised, ignored or suppressed
- Represents a small step towards rethinking political theory and not only advocate but practice it
Part of the book series: International Political Theory (IPoT)
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Table of contents (15 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
- dialogue
- human rights
- equality
- rationality
- cultural pluralism
- cultural identity
- freedom of speech
- public morality
- civil obligation
- political obligation
- active citizenship
- individual responsibility
- integration
- social cohesion
- political belonging
- national identity
- forms of secularism
- European identity
- nationalism
- tolerance
About this book
Western political theory has many great strengths but also a few weaknesses. Among the latter should be included its ethnocentricity, its tendency to universalize the local. The political theorist makes universal statements about human beings, societies and states without making a close study of them, and about reason, tradition, human nature and moral ideals without appreciating how differently these are understood in different societies and traditions. These statements are often an uncritical universalisation of his society’s modes of thought and experience. This book traces this tendency in different areas of moral and political life, and argues that a critical engagement between different perspectives offers one possible way to counter this tendency. Seeking universally valid knowledge is a legitimate ambition, but Western political theory cannot realise it without the help of the non-Western as its critical interlocutor.
Reviews
“Bhikhu Parekh’s book demonstrates the power of his multicultural approach, which he applies to a wide range of controversial topics in political theory. His critique of parochialism in mainstream liberal thought and his persistent advocacy of value pluralism are particularly thought-provoking. This is an important book and challenges liberals to engage with it.” (Rainer Bauböck, European University Institute, Florence, Italy)
“Bhikhu Parekh is a distinguished political philosopher, especially in relation to how to understand and cherish cultural diversity. These essays, spanning three decades of sustained exploration of the latter, constitute one of the best sources of multiculturalism and of the need to go beyond liberalism. Parekh examines the presuppositions and limitations of liberalism, displacing it as a continuous monologue, and making political theory more dialogical.” (Tariq Modood, FBA, University of Bristol, UK)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bhikhu Parekh is Emeritus Professor of Political Theory at the University of Hull, UK, and was Visiting Professor at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and McGill University, USA. He is the author of several widely acclaimed books on political philosophy, including Rethinking Multiculturalism (2000). He received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Political Studies and a Fellow of the British Academy and the European Academy.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Ethnocentric Political Theory
Book Subtitle: The Pursuit of Flawed Universals
Authors: Bhikhu Parekh
Series Title: International Political Theory
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11708-5
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Political Science and International Studies, Political Science and International Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG, part of Springer Nature 2019
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-11707-8Published: 17 April 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-11708-5Published: 12 April 2019
Series ISSN: 2662-6039
Series E-ISSN: 2662-6047
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: X, 290
Topics: Popular Science in Political Science and International Relations, Political Theory, Politics and Religion, Governance and Government