New Books Network Georgios Varouxakis, "The West: The History of an Idea" (Princeton UP, 2025)
Oct 4, 2025
Georgios Varouxakis, a political thought professor at Queen Mary University of London, dives deep into the evolution of the idea of 'the West.' He reveals that the term emerged in the 1820s to avoid the ambiguity of 'Europe,' largely shaped by thinkers like Auguste Comte. Varouxakis discusses how this concept differentiated Western Europe from Russia and traces the unexpected assimilation of the U.S. into this identity. He also examines notable critiques from figures like James Baldwin and the implications of labeling values as uniquely 'Western.'
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Modern Birth Of "The West"
- The term "the West" emerged in the 19th century as a new political identity distinct from "Europe."
- Auguste Comte and earlier French thinkers promoted "the West" to solve identity confusion and include the Americas.
West Defined Against Russia
- "The West" initially served to distinguish Western Europe from Russia, not Asia or Africa.
- The new term solved a political need to separate certain Christian Europeans from other European powers.
Kant's Pacifist West
- Immanuel Kant theorized a West as a cohesive, pacifist, anti-imperial project rather than an imperialist bloc.
- Kant envisioned Western unity abolishing war and empires to create a moral Republic of Humanity.
