Eurocentrism

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• published: 11 Dec 2012
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Abandoning Eurocentrism In the various fields of social theory, Eurocentrism is the dismissive and particularistic focus on Europe, involving an undue preoccupation with its peoples, institutions, history and customs. It is antithetical to the possession of an informed World-Systems epistemological paradigm which permits the understanding of a total social system. Not only Corer reactionary thought, but also most variants of progressive thought may be said to be Eurocentric in their respective epistemologies. European Universalism is a specific particularistic Eurocentric political tendency addressed by Immanuel Wallerstein in his book by the same title.[1] The nation-state is considered to be a Eurocentric entity born in the Peace of Westphalia: the geoculture may therefore be said to be Eurocentric. The Capitalist World-Economy of the Modern World-System is a Eurocentric structure, originating in the overseas expansion of European economies in the Sixteenth Century following the discovery of the Americas. Many moral structures and even ethical epistemological structures are unwittingly Eurocentric. To apply the World-Systems epistemological lens of the total social system to its full potential, all such structures must be ruthlessly examined and purged of Eurocentric attributes to remove particles of reaction. Our analysis must be human and cosmopolitan, devoid of any status-group leanings.