In “Western Culture and Its Other,” Iman Attia illuminates the political, cultural, and everyday discourses of ‘Western culture’ as sites of origin for anti-Muslim racism.
“In contrast to interreligious dialogues that strive to understand “the foreign” and thus want to counter “Islamophobia,” this book reverses the perspective. The view of “the others” serves as the starting point for consideration – not in order to understand “the foreign,” but in order to be able to reflect on “one’s own.
With reference to postcolonial and poststructuralist theories, the presentation of “Islam” as a hegemonic discourse is analyzed. Accordingly, the dichotomy between “Islam” and “the West” is a construction that essentializes both. It has developed and transformed historically, it is given different meanings in political constellations, and its facets are part of the cultural body of knowledge of “the West” about “the Orient” and “Islam,” respectively.” Publisher’s Announcement.
Iman Attia 2009: ‘Western Culture’ and its Other: On Deconstructing Orientalism and Anti-Muslim Racism (Culture and Social Practice). Bielefeld: transcript.
If you don’t have a bookstore worth supporting near you, you can also buy the book from the alternative non-profit online bookstore links-lesen.de, which supports political projects with the profits. The link to the book is: http: //www.links-lesen.de/article/978-3-8376-1081-9