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Can Non-Europeans Think?
'In Can Non-Europeans Think? Dabashi takes his subtle but vigorous polemic to another level.'
Pankaj Mishra
What happens to thinkers who operate outside the European philosophical pedigree? In this powerfully honed polemic, Hamid Dabashi argues that they are invariably marginalised, patronised and misrepresented.
Challenging, pugnacious and stylish, Can Non-Europeans Think? forges a new perspective in postcolonial theory by examining how intellectual debate continues to reinforce a colonial regime of knowledge, albeit in a new guise.
Based on years of scholarship and activism, this insightful collection of philosophical explorations is certain to unsettle and delight in equal measure.
Pankaj Mishra
What happens to thinkers who operate outside the European philosophical pedigree? In this powerfully honed polemic, Hamid Dabashi argues that they are invariably marginalised, patronised and misrepresented.
Challenging, pugnacious and stylish, Can Non-Europeans Think? forges a new perspective in postcolonial theory by examining how intellectual debate continues to reinforce a colonial regime of knowledge, albeit in a new guise.
Based on years of scholarship and activism, this insightful collection of philosophical explorations is certain to unsettle and delight in equal measure.
344 pages, Hardcover
First published April 15, 2015
37 people are currently reading
1071 people want to read
About the author
Hamid Dabashi
75 books202 followersBorn on 15 June 1951 into a working class family in the south-western city of Ahvaz in the Khuzestan province of Iran, Hamid Dabashi received his early education in his hometown and his college education in Tehran, before he moved to the United States, where he received a dual Ph.D. in Sociology of Culture and Islamic Studies from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University.
He wrote his doctoral dissertation on Max Weber’s theory of charismatic authority with Philip Rieff (1922-2006), the most distinguished Freudian cultural critic of his time.
Hamid Dabashi is the Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York, the oldest and most prestigious Chair in his field. He has taught and delivered lectures in many North and Latin American, European, Arab, and Iranian universities. He is a founding member of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, as well as a founding member of the Center for Palestine Studies at Columbia University.
He has written 20 books, edited 4, and contributed chapters to many more. He is also the author of over 100 essays, articles and book reviews in major scholarly and peer reviewed journals on subjects ranging from Iranian Studies, medieval and modern Islam, comparative literature, world cinema, and the philosophy of art (trans-aesthetics). A selected sample of his writing is co-edited by Andrew Davison and Himadeep Muppidi, The World is my Home: A Hamid Dabashi Reader (Transaction 2010).
Hamid Dabashi is the Series Editor of Literatures and Cultures of the Islamic World for Palgrave Macmillan. This series is putting forward a critical body of first rate scholarship on the literary and cultural production of the Islamic world from the vantage point of contemporary theoretical and hermeneutic perspectives, effectively bringing the study of Islamic literatures and cultures to the wider attention of scholars and students of world literatures and cultures without the prejudices and drawbacks of outmoded perspectives.
An internationally renowned cultural critic and award-winning author, his books and articles have been translated into numerous languages, including Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Hebrew, Danish, Arabic, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Polish, Turkish, Urdu and Catalan.
In the context of his commitment to advancing trans-national art and independent world cinema, Hamid Dabashi is the founder of Dreams of a Nation, a Palestinian Film Project, dedicated to preserving and safeguarding Palestinian Cinema. He is also chiefly responsible for opening up the study of Persian literature and Iranian culture at Columbia University to students of comparative literature and society, breaking away from the confinements of European Orientalism and American Area Studies.
A committed teacher in the past three decades, Hamid Dabashi is also a public speaker around the globe, a current affairs essayist, and a staunch anti-war activist. He has two grown-up children, Kaveh and Pardis, who are both Columbia University graduates, and he lives in New York with his wife and colleague, the Iranian-Swedish feminist, Golbarg Bashi, their daughter Chelgis and their son Golchin.
He wrote his doctoral dissertation on Max Weber’s theory of charismatic authority with Philip Rieff (1922-2006), the most distinguished Freudian cultural critic of his time.
Hamid Dabashi is the Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York, the oldest and most prestigious Chair in his field. He has taught and delivered lectures in many North and Latin American, European, Arab, and Iranian universities. He is a founding member of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, as well as a founding member of the Center for Palestine Studies at Columbia University.
He has written 20 books, edited 4, and contributed chapters to many more. He is also the author of over 100 essays, articles and book reviews in major scholarly and peer reviewed journals on subjects ranging from Iranian Studies, medieval and modern Islam, comparative literature, world cinema, and the philosophy of art (trans-aesthetics). A selected sample of his writing is co-edited by Andrew Davison and Himadeep Muppidi, The World is my Home: A Hamid Dabashi Reader (Transaction 2010).
Hamid Dabashi is the Series Editor of Literatures and Cultures of the Islamic World for Palgrave Macmillan. This series is putting forward a critical body of first rate scholarship on the literary and cultural production of the Islamic world from the vantage point of contemporary theoretical and hermeneutic perspectives, effectively bringing the study of Islamic literatures and cultures to the wider attention of scholars and students of world literatures and cultures without the prejudices and drawbacks of outmoded perspectives.
An internationally renowned cultural critic and award-winning author, his books and articles have been translated into numerous languages, including Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Hebrew, Danish, Arabic, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Polish, Turkish, Urdu and Catalan.
In the context of his commitment to advancing trans-national art and independent world cinema, Hamid Dabashi is the founder of Dreams of a Nation, a Palestinian Film Project, dedicated to preserving and safeguarding Palestinian Cinema. He is also chiefly responsible for opening up the study of Persian literature and Iranian culture at Columbia University to students of comparative literature and society, breaking away from the confinements of European Orientalism and American Area Studies.
A committed teacher in the past three decades, Hamid Dabashi is also a public speaker around the globe, a current affairs essayist, and a staunch anti-war activist. He has two grown-up children, Kaveh and Pardis, who are both Columbia University graduates, and he lives in New York with his wife and colleague, the Iranian-Swedish feminist, Golbarg Bashi, their daughter Chelgis and their son Golchin.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
July 12, 2015
A live debate between Dabashi and Zizek is what I now want for my birthday.
July 1, 2017
دباشي، ساخر وعميق في آن.
استمتعت بعمله هذا أكثر من أيّ عمل آخر له.
استمتعت بعمله هذا أكثر من أيّ عمل آخر له.
December 19, 2015
My first impression towards this book was somehow shattered after I started reading it - but this does not necessarily implies the book negatively. This book which mostly consists of his previous articles in several media somehow answer the question in the book title indirectly.
When we are asked by the question framed by the book title, somehow the answer could only be either 'Can' or 'Cannot'. Perhaps, as Mahbubani suggested, we could also have the third answer: 'Maybe'. More often than not, I find Dabashi does not necessarily want to answer this question explicitly, but rather he focuses more towards the foundational matters such as the issue of Orientalism, subaltern studies, hegemony of knowledge and so on.
The question posed by the title of the book itself is somehow a question by the 'Others' who doubt the ability of non-Europeans to think, up until they are perceived to always ask for the assistance of the 'Others' to interpret their own discourse. But here is where Dabashi refute this situation by critically discuss several important events in the world, particularly Muslim world, which had been much polemicized. I find his discussion about post-ideology and Islamism is engaging for example on how Muslims themselves have been bought to the dichotomy of 'West and the rest' and how the uprisings in the world are not only for political purposes.
One of interesting questions when I was reading this book is how at the first place we have the dichotomy of 'we' and the 'Others'. Throughout this book, Dabashi again and again elucidates example on how different we could be (for example, the interpretation of shoe-throwing incident) yet somehow, in another situation, despite cultural and religious diversity, people can have a common denominator (such as on Islamophobia that is not restricted by the Westerners). The political and social reading of the world events must be understood in these different lights before any conclusion can be made and discussed.
Towards the end of the book, one of the critical question I have is how far our thinking nowadays have been boxed?
When we are asked by the question framed by the book title, somehow the answer could only be either 'Can' or 'Cannot'. Perhaps, as Mahbubani suggested, we could also have the third answer: 'Maybe'. More often than not, I find Dabashi does not necessarily want to answer this question explicitly, but rather he focuses more towards the foundational matters such as the issue of Orientalism, subaltern studies, hegemony of knowledge and so on.
The question posed by the title of the book itself is somehow a question by the 'Others' who doubt the ability of non-Europeans to think, up until they are perceived to always ask for the assistance of the 'Others' to interpret their own discourse. But here is where Dabashi refute this situation by critically discuss several important events in the world, particularly Muslim world, which had been much polemicized. I find his discussion about post-ideology and Islamism is engaging for example on how Muslims themselves have been bought to the dichotomy of 'West and the rest' and how the uprisings in the world are not only for political purposes.
One of interesting questions when I was reading this book is how at the first place we have the dichotomy of 'we' and the 'Others'. Throughout this book, Dabashi again and again elucidates example on how different we could be (for example, the interpretation of shoe-throwing incident) yet somehow, in another situation, despite cultural and religious diversity, people can have a common denominator (such as on Islamophobia that is not restricted by the Westerners). The political and social reading of the world events must be understood in these different lights before any conclusion can be made and discussed.
Towards the end of the book, one of the critical question I have is how far our thinking nowadays have been boxed?
January 8, 2017
A collection of essays on a 'postcolonial reading' of the Arab Spring (starting with the 2009 green movement in Iran) centered around a debate, at times a little petty and personal (Zizek's 'Fuck you, Walter Mignolo') between some eminent European and non-European philosophers. The centre of the conversation is Dabashi's essay 'Can Non-Europeans Think' originally published on Aljazeera in 2013 (and reproduced in the collection of essays under the same title).
The point here is NOT a repackaged critique of eurocentrism but moving beyond a postcolonial episteme which has, according to the author, exhausted itself in being able to explain the massive transformation happening in the Middle East and beyond. The episteme was grounded in a specific historic [postcolonial] reality, which current generations of non-Europeans have moved beyond, mostly unnoticed by Western commentators, still operating within the postcolonial knowledge regime (with its own regime change think tank experts etc). Well, more or less, not doing the argument much justice here.
Most essays focus on various moments in time of the Arab Spring, specifically arguing that: militant Islamism was a co-product of European colonialism/American imperialism. The revolutions set in motion with the Arab Spring have nothing to do with the battle between Islamists and their imperial nemesis or 'secularists versus religious groups'. He contends that the Western reading of 'moderate' versus 'radical' Muslims is a silly camouflage that conceals a far more serious epistemic breakthrough.
He argues that the regimes in Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood etc are out of touch with the social reality in their countries, trapped in a postcolonial history and truth regime. He reads the Arab Spring as a moment of 'radically expanding the diminuitive political space...a paramount occasion when the public sphere became the transformative location where Muslims began wrestling Islam from Islamists and thereby reclaimed their religion beyond any false and falsifying divide'.
It would have been more meaningful to write a new book rather than re-printing dozens or so of essays (some as old as 2010 or so) as it would have helped focus on the core argument: making sense of the Arab Spring within this epistemic shift.
The point here is NOT a repackaged critique of eurocentrism but moving beyond a postcolonial episteme which has, according to the author, exhausted itself in being able to explain the massive transformation happening in the Middle East and beyond. The episteme was grounded in a specific historic [postcolonial] reality, which current generations of non-Europeans have moved beyond, mostly unnoticed by Western commentators, still operating within the postcolonial knowledge regime (with its own regime change think tank experts etc). Well, more or less, not doing the argument much justice here.
Most essays focus on various moments in time of the Arab Spring, specifically arguing that: militant Islamism was a co-product of European colonialism/American imperialism. The revolutions set in motion with the Arab Spring have nothing to do with the battle between Islamists and their imperial nemesis or 'secularists versus religious groups'. He contends that the Western reading of 'moderate' versus 'radical' Muslims is a silly camouflage that conceals a far more serious epistemic breakthrough.
He argues that the regimes in Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood etc are out of touch with the social reality in their countries, trapped in a postcolonial history and truth regime. He reads the Arab Spring as a moment of 'radically expanding the diminuitive political space...a paramount occasion when the public sphere became the transformative location where Muslims began wrestling Islam from Islamists and thereby reclaimed their religion beyond any false and falsifying divide'.
It would have been more meaningful to write a new book rather than re-printing dozens or so of essays (some as old as 2010 or so) as it would have helped focus on the core argument: making sense of the Arab Spring within this epistemic shift.
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March 28, 2020العنوان بيوعدك بحاجة، لكن الكتاب من جوا مختلفة، وللسخرية إن الكاتب بيثبت لجيجك هو ليه مش مضطر يقرأ لحد غير أوربي، شوية قومية وشوفينية إيرانية (للتذكير الكاتب ضد نظام إيران الحالي) سذاجة منقطعة النظير، كم كبير من التفاؤل ميصحش وغريب، بعد 11 سنة من الحركة الخضراء الإيرانية هل حصل تغيير حقيقي وملموس داخل إيران ؟
مقالات أخرى تصفية حسابات مش أكتر، مقالات مكتوبة عشان الكاتب إما عاوز قرشين أو متعاقد على قدر معين من المقالات فلازم يسلم شغل، هتلاقي الأفكار بتكرر نفسها بصورة مثيرة للرثاء إنها تطلع من أستاذي أكاديمي مفروض وبلا بلا بلا.
فصل إدوارد سعيد كان جميل ويشجع أي حد يدخل مجال وعالم المفكر الشهير من باب أوسع، (قرأت لسعيد المثقف والسلطة، وكان ف فكرةهزتني أكثر من غيرها في كتابه دا، مش وقته ولا الريفيو دا عن سعيد لكن خلوني أطلق السؤال، في حالة الحرب ودولتك معتدية دروك كمثقف ضد الحرب ولا تدعم "نظام بلدك" ، فكرة ثورية و حرب فيتنام مرجع لينا)
بالطبع، وابقى ساذج وسطحي لو قولت الكتاب وحش، إنما التوقع إن طرح بهذه الأهمية وسؤال حيوي مثل هذا "أوه ماي جود " هل يستطيع غير الأوربي التفكير ؟ يتم معالجته بتلك السرعة و الشخصية مش التحليل النقدي الموضوعي الحقيقي، يا راجل دا بيجي اسم مفكر من كل ثقافة عشان يثبت أنه مطلع أو إن في ناس عظيمة كتير برا المحيط الجغرافي الأوربي، مش من باب أولى كان حلل نصوص للناس دي زي ما عمل مع جيجك وحلل نصوصه ومقالاته المهترئة على حد زعم حميد ؟ أصلا أنه يفرد كل المساحة دي لجيجك فهو دليل إن الأمر شخصي والراجل عايز يعمل سبوبة فبيحط في الكتاب مقالاته اللي كتبها على فترات زمنية طويلة وللسخرية بتثبت سذاجته وسوء تقديره للأمور.
الراجل مدعي يا جماعة، مدعي وبائس، بيسمي الثلاثية بتاعته، ثلاثية الانتفاضة، بيحكها في فلسطين لأسباب مفهومة وغير مفهمومة، هل أنا قاسي على "المفكر" ليه لأ ؟ بس الكتاب وصاحبه فعلا مساعدش نفسه أنه يجاوب على سؤال، الكتاب سبوبة.
مقالات أخرى تصفية حسابات مش أكتر، مقالات مكتوبة عشان الكاتب إما عاوز قرشين أو متعاقد على قدر معين من المقالات فلازم يسلم شغل، هتلاقي الأفكار بتكرر نفسها بصورة مثيرة للرثاء إنها تطلع من أستاذي أكاديمي مفروض وبلا بلا بلا.
فصل إدوارد سعيد كان جميل ويشجع أي حد يدخل مجال وعالم المفكر الشهير من باب أوسع، (قرأت لسعيد المثقف والسلطة، وكان ف فكرةهزتني أكثر من غيرها في كتابه دا، مش وقته ولا الريفيو دا عن سعيد لكن خلوني أطلق السؤال، في حالة الحرب ودولتك معتدية دروك كمثقف ضد الحرب ولا تدعم "نظام بلدك" ، فكرة ثورية و حرب فيتنام مرجع لينا)
بالطبع، وابقى ساذج وسطحي لو قولت الكتاب وحش، إنما التوقع إن طرح بهذه الأهمية وسؤال حيوي مثل هذا "أوه ماي جود " هل يستطيع غير الأوربي التفكير ؟ يتم معالجته بتلك السرعة و الشخصية مش التحليل النقدي الموضوعي الحقيقي، يا راجل دا بيجي اسم مفكر من كل ثقافة عشان يثبت أنه مطلع أو إن في ناس عظيمة كتير برا المحيط الجغرافي الأوربي، مش من باب أولى كان حلل نصوص للناس دي زي ما عمل مع جيجك وحلل نصوصه ومقالاته المهترئة على حد زعم حميد ؟ أصلا أنه يفرد كل المساحة دي لجيجك فهو دليل إن الأمر شخصي والراجل عايز يعمل سبوبة فبيحط في الكتاب مقالاته اللي كتبها على فترات زمنية طويلة وللسخرية بتثبت سذاجته وسوء تقديره للأمور.
الراجل مدعي يا جماعة، مدعي وبائس، بيسمي الثلاثية بتاعته، ثلاثية الانتفاضة، بيحكها في فلسطين لأسباب مفهومة وغير مفهمومة، هل أنا قاسي على "المفكر" ليه لأ ؟ بس الكتاب وصاحبه فعلا مساعدش نفسه أنه يجاوب على سؤال، الكتاب سبوبة.
August 3, 2018
عنوان الكتاب جذاب، لكنني لا أحب كتب المقالات المجمعة، لأنها بالغالب كتبت ردًّا على احداث حصلت قريبًا من وقت كتابة المقال. لذا تصبح هذه المقالات عديمة الفائدة بعد سنوات قصيرة. وهذا الكتاب مع أني تمنيت قراءة بعض مقالاته ساعة نشرها، إلا أنها الآن أصبحت قديمة إلا ببعض الجمل المتفرقة هنا وهناك.
October 17, 2017
"The commodification of democracy in turn amounts to its fetishization into a global sign over which the US and its European and regional allies wish to have a solid monopoly – a monopoly that in turn justifies any means of violence at their disposal, in every way they deem necessary, to protect their values and their interests, as Obama put it when justifying US involvement in the NATO bombing of Libya to protect and promote democracy. It is not accidental that Fanon in his Wretched of the Earth (1961) observed that “every time Western values are mentioned they produce in the native a sort of stiffening or muscular lockjaw…"
April 26, 2016
Dabashi explains in much simplier terms the ugly side there is to occidental modern thought. Served me to grasp more ways to explain this to people. After reading this, I think I'll be able to sound less alien when talking to others about some concepts like coloniality, assimilation and white supremacy, using lighter, more relatable examples.
March 24, 2018
‘Can Non-Europeans Think?’ initially posits that non-European philosophy is generally treated with disdain in the West. Philosophy that does not have its roots in the writings of western thinkers, is not actually philosophy. As a consequence, a thought regime continues to live on, in which ‘European thinking’ still dominates post-colonialism and often brings forth colonialism, racism and islamophobia in a new guise.
Dabashi rightfully addresses this problem, but does not write a compelling book on the topic. His writing is a compillation of past articles, often previously published on Al Jazeera, which makes for a very unorganised and at times repetitive read. Furthermore, Dabashi often gets lost in too complex contemplations - he is an academic, but that should not be an excuse to write such complicated texts. Finally, the choice of words is often questionable and charged (e.g. Israel as a “terrorist state”), which further sidetracks the book from some of the otherwise solid points it makes.
Despite his excellent musings on the new islamophobia, the problems of humanitarian interventions and other such topics, Dabashi’s book is too disorganised and arduous to consider a reference work.
Dabashi rightfully addresses this problem, but does not write a compelling book on the topic. His writing is a compillation of past articles, often previously published on Al Jazeera, which makes for a very unorganised and at times repetitive read. Furthermore, Dabashi often gets lost in too complex contemplations - he is an academic, but that should not be an excuse to write such complicated texts. Finally, the choice of words is often questionable and charged (e.g. Israel as a “terrorist state”), which further sidetracks the book from some of the otherwise solid points it makes.
Despite his excellent musings on the new islamophobia, the problems of humanitarian interventions and other such topics, Dabashi’s book is too disorganised and arduous to consider a reference work.
April 13, 2020
Title is misleading. Although his final few pages have passages that try and define the book as a “document, a vindication – in the spirit of a battlefield between the ruling and the changing regimes of knowledge – of what we have inherited and what is emerging by virtue of the world historic changes to which we happen to be witness, as we read, write, recall and record them.”
I’m not sure, there are snippets of “witnessing” but its not really that; was really annoying reading old al Jazeera articles — made the thing repetitive and not really about the epistemic racism that underpins the western philosophical tradition or about a changing of knowledge regimes
Some of the descriptions about zizek was just downright funny and deserved.
honestly it might be me, but the only section I truly enjoyed or found fascinating was the author’s bit on the cultural differences in attitudes towards shoes. Although I should temper that by saying there are plenty of records about the loss of other/Muslim/non-European lives which is important
I’m not sure, there are snippets of “witnessing” but its not really that; was really annoying reading old al Jazeera articles — made the thing repetitive and not really about the epistemic racism that underpins the western philosophical tradition or about a changing of knowledge regimes
Some of the descriptions about zizek was just downright funny and deserved.
honestly it might be me, but the only section I truly enjoyed or found fascinating was the author’s bit on the cultural differences in attitudes towards shoes. Although I should temper that by saying there are plenty of records about the loss of other/Muslim/non-European lives which is important
November 14, 2024
الصراحة أني قرأت العمل تتبعًا لترجمة الاستاذ عماد الأحمد قبل حلوله ضيفًا على ملتقى صيدلية الكتب في يوم الترجمة العالمي هذا العام مع الدكتورة أماني حبشي
كتاب دسم، معرفي لحد ما( لجاهلي السياسة أمثالي) يحوي وجهات نظر لافتة قد تغير فكر أو على الأقل تنير عقل القارئ.
طبعًا الكتاب آراء مؤلفه الشخصية، مقالات في أحداث العالم السياسية ،أجاد عماد الأحمد في ترجمته .
#هناك مشهد في فيلم المخرج الفلسطيني البارز إيليا سليمان ( يد الهية) حيث نرى نظيره ايليا سليمان يقود سيارته، ويأكل المشمش. يأخذ أربعة قضمات، من حبة المشمش، يمضغها، ويراقب الطريق، وفي نهاية المطاف، ينتهي مع النواة في يده. يلقي نظرة سريعة على النواة، ويتساءل ما الذي سيفعله بها؟! ومن ثم يلقي بها على الطريق السريع. تضرب النواة دبابة اسرائيلية متوقفة، بتراخ على جانب الطريق السريع ثم تظهر لقطة بعيدة لانفجار الدبابة، الى قطع صغيرة من المعدن تنتشر على اوسع نطاق وتضطرم فيها النيران
كتاب دسم، معرفي لحد ما( لجاهلي السياسة أمثالي) يحوي وجهات نظر لافتة قد تغير فكر أو على الأقل تنير عقل القارئ.
طبعًا الكتاب آراء مؤلفه الشخصية، مقالات في أحداث العالم السياسية ،أجاد عماد الأحمد في ترجمته .
#هناك مشهد في فيلم المخرج الفلسطيني البارز إيليا سليمان ( يد الهية) حيث نرى نظيره ايليا سليمان يقود سيارته، ويأكل المشمش. يأخذ أربعة قضمات، من حبة المشمش، يمضغها، ويراقب الطريق، وفي نهاية المطاف، ينتهي مع النواة في يده. يلقي نظرة سريعة على النواة، ويتساءل ما الذي سيفعله بها؟! ومن ثم يلقي بها على الطريق السريع. تضرب النواة دبابة اسرائيلية متوقفة، بتراخ على جانب الطريق السريع ثم تظهر لقطة بعيدة لانفجار الدبابة، الى قطع صغيرة من المعدن تنتشر على اوسع نطاق وتضطرم فيها النيران
September 12, 2020
Problems:
1. It's not what the title would have you think. Had it been I might have enjoyed it more, as a polemic if nothing else.
2. The journalistic pieces haven't aged well and aren't worth reading now that they're no longer of current interest. I barely survived the effort it took to wade through the morass in search of - I almost said the Snark - non-European philosophy.
3. There were too many cheap shots.
4. The author doesn't like Žižek. We get it. If Dabashi were anywhere near as entertaining and acute-minded as Žižek it would matter not a jot. As it was, I had to put away the popcorn.
5. I won't be reading anything else by this author.
1. It's not what the title would have you think. Had it been I might have enjoyed it more, as a polemic if nothing else.
2. The journalistic pieces haven't aged well and aren't worth reading now that they're no longer of current interest. I barely survived the effort it took to wade through the morass in search of - I almost said the Snark - non-European philosophy.
3. There were too many cheap shots.
4. The author doesn't like Žižek. We get it. If Dabashi were anywhere near as entertaining and acute-minded as Žižek it would matter not a jot. As it was, I had to put away the popcorn.
5. I won't be reading anything else by this author.
September 18, 2020
Not a very good book. The chapter spent mourning Said is out of place within the book, and the other four chapters are collections of the authors articles, the problem being that he repeats the same point in all the articles. This book could have been easily shortened to less than 50 pages, if the author chose to write with less flair.
Perhaps I haven't read enough books of the genre, but the author definitely comes off as being very petty through the comments he makes. Would not recommend.
Perhaps I haven't read enough books of the genre, but the author definitely comes off as being very petty through the comments he makes. Would not recommend.
February 24, 2021
This book is mediocre and the author is often repeating himself out of personal insecurities, unfortunately, after chapter 3, I lost interest in reading further and stopped reading completely. The book is not challenging, does not offer solutions and its considering one-sided without looking at other perspectives.
September 28, 2020
ايه الحلاوة دي 😍😍😍. حميد بيقولنا ازاي الفلاسفة الاوربيين بيدافعوا عن بعض ويكأنهم عصابة مع بعض.
اسلوبه الساخر عظيم.
المهم كتاب بيفكك عقلية الحداثة وما بعد الاستعمار. ازاي الغرب بيهيمن ثقافيا. وازاي احنا صوتنا مش مسموع.
مقدمة مجنلو (Mignolo) عظمة العظمة.
ومقالات اخري احلي واحلي
اسلوبه الساخر عظيم.
المهم كتاب بيفكك عقلية الحداثة وما بعد الاستعمار. ازاي الغرب بيهيمن ثقافيا. وازاي احنا صوتنا مش مسموع.
مقدمة مجنلو (Mignolo) عظمة العظمة.
ومقالات اخري احلي واحلي
February 25, 2018
القراءة مرهقة بسبب سوء الترجمة، فصلة بين كل كلمة وكلمة!! ذبحت النص
May 21, 2019
هناك كتب لا يجب أن تسمي مطالعتك لصفحاتها قراءة بل حوار ، واظن أن هذا الكتاب كان منهم ، وكان حوار مع كتاب بارع وماتع !
May 21, 2022
Most of the articles in this book have little to do with the title.
July 24, 2022
The book. Or collection of essays, tries to touch a very interesting and arguably important topic. But the writing style and repetitiveness makes it a horrendous read.
September 27, 2024
I live in the era where these thinkers ganging up like teenagers attacking each others' personalities with slight ad hominem (im on dabashi's side)
August 10, 2024
هو كتاب ساخر ولكن مبتذل
ميستاهلش الوقت حقيقي
ميستاهلش الوقت حقيقي
Read
July 13, 2016A thought provoking book. Hamid Dabashi argues thinkers who operate outside the European philosophical pedigree are invariably marginalised, patronised and misrepresented, and that this intellectual debate reinforces a colonial regime of knowledge.
Dabashi demonstrates why Said and his critique of orientalism is relevant today more than ever, especially in the epistemological shift of political culture in the Arab world. Particularly fascinating are his discussions of the relationship between knowledge and power. His starting point is a materialist position that "historical conditions are the bedrock of ideas", and that for example, "the mode of knowledge production called 'orientalism' was commensurate with the European imperial powers", producing knowledge in all academic fields that served the interests of the imperial powers.
Dabashi demonstrates why Said and his critique of orientalism is relevant today more than ever, especially in the epistemological shift of political culture in the Arab world. Particularly fascinating are his discussions of the relationship between knowledge and power. His starting point is a materialist position that "historical conditions are the bedrock of ideas", and that for example, "the mode of knowledge production called 'orientalism' was commensurate with the European imperial powers", producing knowledge in all academic fields that served the interests of the imperial powers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2021
الكتاب عبارة عن مجموعة من المقالات تتضمن اراء للكاتب والفيلسوف حامد دباشي في قضايا فكرية وسياسية وثقافية، وقد قام الكاتب بتصنيفها في فصول عدة تطرح قضايا مختلفة واختار عنوان المقال الأول وهو مقال الأكثر شهرة له عنواناً للكتاب.
وفي رأيي المتواضع الكتاب عادي.
وفي رأيي المتواضع الكتاب عادي.
June 6, 2017
ليس بغريب أن يستلب الأوربي كل شيء لنفسه ويجد نفسه الرجل الخارق في كل الاتجاهات الحياتية ومنها يسلط الكتاب حول ذلك فعلم الفلسفة سجل باسم رجالاته ولم تقتصر المعرفة الفلسفية أوروبية انما خلق في الجانب الاخر من الكون الشرقي فلاسفة لكن لم يأخذ بفلسفتهم بعين الاهتمام وما كسبوه سوى مسمى مثقف عام، لذلك يشيد الكتاب بفلاسفة شرقين ومفكرين هضم علمهم، يتدرج الكتاب الى عالم السياسة والثورات والربيع العربي والانتخابات الايرانية وكلها منشورات في موقع الجزيرة وغيرها من مواقع مما يفقد المكتوب المصداقية لاننا نعرف غاية الاعلام وعدم اهليته.
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