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5 - Conclusion

(In)visible Liberalisms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 November 2020

Hussein Banai
Affiliation:
Indiana University, Bloomington
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Summary

The book concludes by considering the implications of hidden liberalism for the study of liberal thought-practices in non-Western, postcolonial settings, and more generally of liberalism in general. In recent years, political theorists have begun to examine the complex relationship between liberalism and empire. These studies have ranged from meticulous genealogies of imperialist arguments in the works of Enlightenment-era thinkers, to dissections of liberal justifications and criticisms of empire during the eighteenth century, and still further to conceptualizations and classifications of liberal-imperialist thought-practices in the long nineteenth century. Overlooked in nearly all of these studies are the implications of Western imperialism for the reception and development of indigenous liberal views and practices inside postcolonial societies. I offer a critical assessment of Western political theory’s privileging of a contextually-specific model of liberalism as a universal standard for understanding, appraising, and promoting liberal thought-practices across the globe. I argue that mainstream, critical, and approaches in political thought unwittingly perpetuate this “visibility bias” as regards the study of liberalism in non-Western societies, and suggest ways of making these modes of inquiry more inclusive.

Type
Chapter
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Hidden Liberalism
Burdened Visions of Progress in Modern Iran
, pp. 142 - 152
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Conclusion
  • Hussein Banai, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Book: Hidden Liberalism
  • Online publication: 26 November 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108850445.005
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  • Conclusion
  • Hussein Banai, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Book: Hidden Liberalism
  • Online publication: 26 November 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108850445.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Conclusion
  • Hussein Banai, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Book: Hidden Liberalism
  • Online publication: 26 November 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108850445.005
Available formats
×