Foucault-derived critique risks undermining the possibility of cross-cultural understanding entirely

Evidence

One critic has argued that Said’s starting point is “without foundation.” Taking over “Foucault’s archaeology and genealogy, [Said] is in the awkward position of condemning not only most, but all, Orientalists because he has virtually presupposed that there is no such thing as the understanding of other cultures, that statements or representations can be nothing but exercises of power as parts of discursive formations. And at the same time he has undermined any basis to justify his own critique.” — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 574

Categorization

• XREF: The self-refutation worry parallels critiques of strong postmodern relativism and standpoint theory debates. — connects to: Motivational reluctance, not cognitive limits, blocks cross-cultural perspective taking — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 79; Relation reframes violence and opacity as the central questions for non-Western thought — Édouard Glissant, Poetics of Relation, 355