Right-left labels mislead when applied outside their Western origin

Evidence

The seating arrangements of the first French National Assembly after the Revolution do not express a law of nature, and the practice of classifying political ideas, interests and groups as right or left obscures more than it illuminates even in the Western world where it originated. As applied to other societies, shaped by different experiences, guided by different traditions, moved by different as­ pirations, such imported labels can only disguise and mislead. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1415 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Empirical blurring of left and right does not prove their irrelevance — Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox, 521; Imported right-left labels mislead when applied to non-Western politics — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 1415; Political labels change meaning across languages and ideological contexts

Broader Connections

• Imported right-left labels mislead when applied to non-Western politics #corroborates (0.95) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1415