Religious revival signals anti-Westernism, not rejection of modernity

Evidence

Religion, indigenous or imported, provides meaning and direction for the rising elites in modernizing societies. “The attribution of value to a traditional religion,” Ronald Dore noted, “is a claim to parity of respect asserted against ‘dominant other’ nations, and often, simultaneously and more proximately, against a local ruling class which has embraced the values and life-styles of those dominant other nations.” “More than anything else,” William McNeill observes, “reaffirmation of Islam, whatever its specific sectarian form, means the repudiation of European and American influence upon local society, politics, and morals.” In this sense, the revival of non-Western religions is the most powerful manifestation of anti-Westernism in non-Western societies. That revival is not a rejection of modernity; it is a rejection of the West and of the secular, relativistic, degenerate culture associated with the West. It is a rejection of what has been termed the “Westoxification” of non-Western societies. It is a declaration of cultural independence from the West, a proud statement that: “We will be modern but we won’t be you.” — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 276

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces/anchors the term ‘Westoxification’ and the framing of religious revival as a declaration of cultural independence rather than rejection of modernity.
• XREF: Connects to broader discourse on nativist modernization movements and ‘we will be modern but not you’ politics seen in Japan’s Meiji-era catch-up and various decolonization ideologies. — connects to: Religion’s resurgence reflects political instrumentalization, not personal piety — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 1664