Occidentalism

Occidentalism is a term used in postcolonial and cultural studies to describe discourses that imagine or critique the West from non-Western perspectives. In its broad sense, Occidentalism analyzes how Western power, values, and culture are represented, interpreted, or resisted in non-Western societies. It is often treated as a counterpart to Orientalism, which concentrates on Western depictions of the East; Occidentalism focuses on how the West is constructed as an object of discourse, whether as threat, critique, or source of inspiration.

A influential articulation of the concept is found in Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit’s Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies (2004). They explore how anti‑Western ideologies across various regions produce two interrelated tendencies: demonization of the West as morally corrupt or hypocritical, and either rejection of Western modernity or selective appropriation of Western norms. They emphasize the complexity and ambivalence within Occidentalist discourse, noting that some critics simultaneously oppose Western power while praising certain Western ideas.

Scholars use Occidentalism to study a range of phenomena, including political rhetoric, religious and nationalist movements, literature, and media representations. The term also appears in debates about how the West is imagined within the East and among postcolonial publics, as well as in analyses of Western self-critique and global cultural influence.

Critics of the concept caution that Occidentalism can conflate diverse, heterogeneous phenomena under a single label and risk reinforcing binary oppositions similar to those it seeks to critique. Proponents argue it helps illuminate how power, culture, and identity co-construct each other across global divides.