Political grievances divert attention from deeper socioeconomic causes of anti-Western feeling

Evidence

What is the reason for this anti-Western feeling? There is no lack of answers to this question. First, there is the long list of specific political grievances, beginning with the Palestine question and including such other items as Algeria, Suez, and the rest. Then there are the economic and social dislocations resulting from the impact of Westernization in its various forms. These are, in the long run, far more important than the political griev­ ances as a source of restlessness and resentment. By their nature, however, they are not easy to formulate and discuss on a political level, at any rate in countries that have no tradition of such discussion; nor can the blame for them readily be thrown on nameable and recognizable culprits. It is, therefore, the political griev­ ances that are most to the fore, both as an outlet and as a focus for anti-Western feeling. Sometimes, indeed, it is difficult to tell whether a particular grievance is an irritant or a safety valve. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1187

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the ‘moral panic’ literature — grievances as outlets vs. irritants resembles Cohen’s distinction between causes and vehicles of moral panic. — connects to: Anti-foreign opinion is shaped by politics, economics, and social organization — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 15