Nineteenth-century Europe traded Enlightenment universalism for imperialist superiority

Evidence

By the nineteenth century, however, this Enlightenment universalism was rapidly being replaced by an emphasis on differences between people and civilizations. Europe developed what Etienne Balibar calls an “imperialist superiority complex.” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 119

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Eighteenth-century thinkers believed in one universal French-inspired civilization.; Colonial ideology combined fiscal self-interest with Enlightenment trade beliefs.; Tempels’s work ended Enlightenment claims that Africans lack reason, while subtle prejudice persists (+15 more)

Broader Connections

• The eighteenth century equated individuality with freedom and assumed natural human equality #contradicts (0.82) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 650
• Every imperial power since the Enlightenment has invoked the white man’s burden #exemplifies (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 200
• So-called universal scholarship actually reflects imperial national biases #exemplifies (0.60) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 592
• Racial hierarchy and whiteness were invented inside Europe before modern capitalism #qualifies (0.50)