Definition
The term “Eurocentrism” is commonly defined and recognized as a “cultural phenomenon that views the histories and cultures of non-Western societies from a European or Western perspective”.[1] The “European” here is more specifically referring to Western Europe, where it presents the superiority of European ideology as well as its traditional cultural values compared to non-European societies. Although this Eurocentric phenomenon originated in Europe, “as a thought style it is not confined to Europeans or those in the West”.[2] This notion of Eurocentricity, for example, is as much rooted in non-Western people as it is in Europeans. Because of the ‘modernity’ imposed on them by Eurocentrism, many non-Western people will subconsciously promote many western perspectives and defend them as modern and advanced. Political economist Samir Amin sees Eurocentrism as a modern culturalist phenomenon. In his opinion, Eurocentrism’s root lies in the Renaissance period and “which did not flourish until the nineteenth century”.[3] Despite the different emphases point of the concept of Eurocentrism, the common perception of the idea of Eurocentric is how it showed and implied the superiority of West Europe society over the other non-Europeans.
History of the Term
The term “eurocentrism” has existed since at least the 1920s, but it rose in prominence during the 1990s as a way to analyze the involvement industrialized nations played in the development of their previous colonies and their decolonization process.[4] In addition, it has been used to critique Western scholars for their downplaying of non-Western intellectual contributions to the world. However, Eurocentrism as an ideology existed prior to the actual term’s creation. During Europe’s era of colonization, academics justified Europe’s actions by writing about the continent’s increased significance and the inhabitants’ superiority.[5] Therefore, while the actual term was introduced within the last 100 years, Eurocentrism itself has been practiced for centuries longer.
Eurocentrism in International Politics
Eurocentrism is a protrusive feature of the discourse surrounding international relations and politics because it permeates the language used to articulate how countries and territories are related to one another, particularly with the construction of the “West” versus the “Non-West.” Eurocentrism posits that Europe is the origin point for modern developments like democracy, sovereignty, and human rights, aspects of society that constitute a modern, developed state within Eurocentric ideology. In its current manifestation, Eurocentrism ignores the fact that certain territories in the non-West are different from the West as a result of colonialism. At the foundation of Western hegemony in international politics is the erasure of non-Western history by establishing the “non-West” as “unknowable,” proliferating the temporal dichotomy. Scholarly opposition to Eurocentrism also criticizes the dismissal of territories that rely on cultural traits to inform national identity and policy.[6]
Eurocentrism in international relations is vindicated by the rewriting of history to favor European polities and establish colonial encounters as non-violent and justifiable by both parties. This painting, commissioned in 1778, offers a visual representation of the Eurocentric conception of British colonialism, and how this corrupted knowledge was sustained centuries into Britain’s imperial regime.
Spiridione Roma (1737–1781)
British Library
In an even broader sense, Eurocentrism has shaped our understanding of geography due to the ways in which the world has been represented visually. The below video from the TV show West Wing provides a brief overview of the various map projections that we have relied on throughout history, ones that may not serve us anymore, as well as the way that maps appeal to us psychologically.
Eurocentrism in Art
In the field of art, Eurocentrism is closely linked and presented not just in its history but also in its aesthetic standards. As described by Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, “The absence of non-European art from the curricula of most continental European institutes of art history…” could be seen as an explicit presentation of the eurocentric mindset set in the area of art. [7] The discussion focuses on art history education is exclusive, and this exclusive tendency of neglecting non-Western or non-European art is built and based on the Eurocentric view. For instance, if one is looking at the paintings of East Asians, then what is likely to happen is that one will be aware of a fault line in the historical record. It’s hard to find much about East Asian painting from around 1800 onwards. Compared with a large amount of literature about the Western Renaissance and the Impressionism that happened in the late 1800s, the art that took place in East Asia have almost ignored by both Western and Eastern historians.[8]
This Eurocentric view could be further defined as a “conceptual apparatus…that frames Europe as…the bearer of universal values and reason, and the pinnacle and therefore the model of progress and development.”[9] Museums, the fundamental way of displaying and storing art collections, contain visual biases that are “distinctly Western or Eurocentric in origin” at their very core. [10] Now, in the contemporary art context, many artists have shown their way to resist or cope with the Eurocentric art standards that have been put on them. Harmonia Rosales, for example, is a female African American artist whose work mainly focuses on giving voice to people of color by reshaping classical paintings. Her oil painting ‘Birth of Oshun’ in 2017 is an example.
Harmonia Rosales, Oil on Belgian Linen, 2017, 55” x 67”
As you may recognize, this painting has a very similar structure and features to Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. This is a re-imaged painting of Botticelli’s, which, in the artist’s own words, is to shift the centuries-long Eurocentric narratives by replacing the white figures and giving positive images of the Black communities. It implied the artist’s interpretation of Eurocentric in the area of arts, as well as how can we possibly change this.[11]
Eurocentrism in Academia
In academia, there is currently a push to decolonize curriculums at upper-level institutions, as the pre-existing idea of non-European inferiority and the belief that non-European countries played no contribution in human development has led to European scholars and ideas dominating the field and, subsequently, education. Eurocentric narratives in history textbooks, the “main pedagogic resource used in classroom instruction,” allow for the “naturalization of processes such as colonialism, slavery, and racism.”[12] In addition, the social sciences in particular have faced criticism for their Eurocentrism, with a prominent example being sociology. A critique of sociology describes it as “a product of the intersection of science and Europe imperialism,”[13] and Black sociology, which is both a political movement and theoretical perspective by Black scholars, argues that American sociology is actually “a White sociology that constitutes the scientific reflection of American racism.”[14] Therefore, because much of the basis of academia is Eurocentric, decolonizing it requires careful analysis and a complete re-evaluation of the way education is structured.
Eurocentrism Today
The current resistance to Eurocentrism is centered around re-examining seminal works that are embedded with eurocentric ideals as well as decolonizing historical narratives that neglect non-Western knowledge. Scholars have begun to situate eurocentrism as being entrenched with the construction of race throughout history. Within the intellectual realm, there is also a new acknowledgment of eurocentric ideals as being European “specificity” as opposed to “superiority,” which has been a way to enforce eurocentric binaries.[15]
On social media apps like Instagram and TikTok, users have engaged in discussions about eurocentric beauty standards and how they pervade social media fame and user applications like filters. This discourse revolves around acknowledging these apparatuses as constructions of Eurocentrism rather than inevitable truths. [16]
Footnotes:
[1] Deen K Chatterjee, Encyclopedia of Global Justice (Dordrecht: Springer, 2011), 321–25, https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4020-9160-5_25#citeas.
[2] “Eurocentrism – Sociology of Race,” Sociology, 2017, http://sociology.iresearchnet.com/sociology-of-race/eurocentrism/.
[3] Deen K Chatterjee, Encyclopedia of Global Justice (Dordrecht: Springer, 2011), 321–25, https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4020-9160-5_25#citeas.
[4] John Brohman, “Universalism, Eurocentrism, and Ideological Bias in Development Studies: From Modernisaton to Neoliberalism,” Third World Quarterly 16, no.1 (1995): 121-140, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3992977
[5] Laxman D. Satya, “Eurocentrism in World History: A Critique of Its Propagators,” ed. J. M. Blaut, Economic and Political Weekly 40, no. 20 (2005): 2051–55,http://www.jstor.org/stable/4416641.
[6] Zeynep Gülşah Çapan, “Eurocentrism and the Construction of the ‘Non-West,” E-International Relations, 2018, https://www.e-ir.info/2018/06/19/eurocentrism-and-the-construction-of-the-non-west/
[7]Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, “Eurocentrism and Art History? Universal History and the Historiography of the Arts before Winckelmann,” Memory & Oblivion, 1999, 35–42, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4006-5_6.
[8] Hoakley, “From Silk to Canvas: 1 the Forgotten Renaissance in Japan,” The Eclectic Light Company, August 16, 2015, https://eclecticlight.co/2015/08/16/from-silk-to-canvas-1-the-forgotten-renaissance-in-japan/.
[9] J. Sundberg, International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, ed. Rob Kitchin and Nigel Thrift (Amsterdam; Oxford: Elsevier, 2009), 638–43.
[10] Rice, Danielle. “The Hidden Theme: Viewing Art through Western Eyes,” The Docent Educator 3.1 (Autumn 1993): 8-9.
[11] Lauren Mitchell, “Harmonia Rosales Is Creating New Narratives around the Classic Art Paintings,” Design Indaba, April 18, 2019, https://www.designindaba.com/articles/creative-work/harmonia-rosales-creating-new-narratives-around-classic-art-paintings.
[12] Marta Araújo and Silvia Rodríguez Maeso, “History Textbooks, Racism and the Critique of Eurocentrism: Beyond Rectification or Compensation,” Ethnic and Racial Studies 35, no. 7 (July 2012): 1266–86, https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2011.600767.
[13] William Jamal Richardson, “Understanding Eurocentrism as a Structural Problem of Undone Science,” WordPress, June 27, 2017, https://williamjrichardson.com/2017/06/27/%E2%80%8Bunderstanding-eurocentrism-as-a-structural-problem-of-undone-science/.
[14] William Jamal Richardson, “Understanding Eurocentrism as a Structural Problem of Undone Science,” WordPress, June 27, 2017, https://williamjrichardson.com/2017/06/27/%E2%80%8Bunderstanding-eurocentrism-as-a-structural-problem-of-undone-science/.
[15] Maeso, S.R., Araújo, M. “Eurocentrism, Political Struggles and the Entrenched Will-to-Ignorance: An Introduction.” Araújo, M., Maeso, S.R. (eds) Eurocentrism, Racism and Knowledge, 2015, Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137292896_1
[16] Yarethsi Leal, “The Take over of Eurocentric Beauty Standards in Social Media,” Best of SNO, accessed November 27, 2022, https://bestofsno.com/53517/opinions/the-take-over-of-eurocentric-beauty-standards-in-social-media/
References
Araújo, Marta, and Silvia Rodríguez Maeso. “History Textbooks, Racism and the Critique of Eurocentrism: Beyond Rectification or Compensation.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 35, no. 7 (July 2012): 1266–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2011.600767.
Brohman, John. “Universalism, Eurocentrism, and Ideological Bias in Development Studies: From Modernisation to Neoliberalism.” Third World Quarterly 16, no. 1 (1995): 121–40. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3992977#metadata_info_tab_contents.
Chatterjee, Deen K. Encyclopedia of Global Justice. Dordrecht: Springer, 2011. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-1-4020-9160-5_25#citeas.
Gülşah Çapan, Zeynap. “Eurocentrism and the Construction of the ‘Non-West,” E-International Relations, 2018, https://www.e-ir.info/2018/06/19/eurocentrism-and-the-construction-of-the-non-west/
Hoakley. “From Silk to Canvas: 1 the Forgotten Renaissance in Japan.” The Eclectic Light Company, August 16, 2015. https://eclecticlight.co/2015/08/16/from-silk-to-canvas-1-the-forgotten-renaissance-in-japan/.
Kaufmann, Thomas DaCosta. “Eurocentrism and Art History? Universal History and the Historiography of the Arts before Winckelmann.” Memory & Oblivion, 1999, 35–42. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4006-5_6.
Leal, Yarethsi. “The Take over of Eurocentric Beauty Standards in Social Media.” Best of SNO. Accessed November 27, 2022. https://bestofsno.com/53517/opinions/the-take-over-of-eurocentric-beauty-standards-in-social-media/.
Maeso, S.R., Araújo, M. “Eurocentrism, Political Struggles and the Entrenched Will-to-Ignorance: An Introduction.” Araújo, M., Maeso, S.R. (eds) Eurocentrism, Racism and Knowledge, 2015, Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137292896_1
Mitchell, Lauren. “Harmonia Rosales Is Creating New Narratives around the Classic Art Paintings.” Design Indaba, April 18, 2019. https://www.designindaba.com/articles/creative-work/harmonia-rosales-creating-new-narratives-around-classic-art-paintings.
Satya, Laxman D. “Eurocentrism in World History: A Critique of Its Propagators.” Edited by J. M. Blaut. Economic and Political Weekly 40, no. 20 (2005): 2051–55. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4416641#metadata_info_tab_contents.
Sociology. “Eurocentrism – Sociology of Race,” 2017. http://sociology.iresearchnet.com/sociology-of-race/eurocentrism/.
Sundberg, J. International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. Edited by Rob Kitchin and Nigel Thrift. Amsterdam; Oxford: Elsevier, 2009.
Richardson, William Jamal. “Understanding Eurocentrism as a Structural Problem of Undone Science.” WordPress, June 27, 2017. https://williamjrichardson.com/2017/06/27/%E2%80%8Bunderstanding-eurocentrism-as-a-structural-problem-of-undone-science/.
Contributors
- Emma Luo
- Rachel Wike
- Suzzane Xue