The Theft of History

Abstract

In The Theft of History Jack Goody builds on his own previous work to extend further his highly influential critique of what he sees as the pervasive Eurocentric or occidentalist biases of so much western historical writing and the consequent 'theft' by the West of the achievements of other cultures in the invention of (notably) democracy, capitalism, individualism and love. Goody, one of the world's most distinguished anthropologists, raises questions about theorists, historians and methodology and proposes a new comparative approach to cross-cultural analysis which allows for more scope in examining history than an East versus West style.

Westphalian Eurocentrism in International Relations Theory

“…For example, in the process of Europe's colonial and imperial expansion, policymakers and scholars invoked Westphalian-grounded principles to justify acts of brutality and subjugation in the name of the privileged position of states that were deemed ''civilized'' in spreading the rule of law, tolerance, and civilization. Similar to other European-invented narratives (Hobsbawm and Ranger 1992;Hodgson 1993;Patterson 1997;Goody 2006), the Westphalian narrative allows for the continued imagination and invention of Europe's intellectual and political superiority, treating the West as a perennial source of political and religious tolerance in international society.…”

Culture, Paradigm, and Communication Theory: A Matter of Boundary or Commensurability?

“…Postmodernism and poststructuralism have presented a major challenge to the monist/dualist paradigm, yet by going to the particularity extreme, they have reinforced, rather than overthrown the U/P model. Just as no room was left to particularity with scientific theories, no room was left to generality and universality with postmodern theories (Goody, 2006;Lao, 2014). As Carr (1964) put it, the shape of a mountain may vary when seen from different angles, but if pluralism, differentiation, and dissemination of meaning are pushed to the extreme, either a mountain will have endless shapes, or have no shape at all.…”

“…2 In this sense, geocultural theories would be "conceptually impossible" unless they remain the way they are-loosely regarded as thoughts, ideas, and wisdoms from the past. As Goonasekera and Kuo (2000) put it, "[t]o be Asian it has to be particularistic; to be theoretical it has to be universalistic. Herein lies the paradox, … " (Goonasekera & Kuo, 2000, p. xii).…”

The Politics of Knowledge: Or, How to Stop Being Eurocentric

“…Some time around 1815, their paths 'crossed', with an ascendant Europe overtaking a declining Asia (283). Not only did this take place much later than the Eurocentric narrative would have it, it took place for altogether different reasons: 'Europe did not pull itself up by its own economic bootstraps, and certainly not thanks to any kind of European "exceptionalism" of rationality, institutions, entrepreneurship, technology…instead Europe used its American money to muscle in on and benefit from Asian production, markets, trade-in a word, to profit from the predominant position of Asia in the world economy' (4)(5).…”