Rogers labeled resisters of Western ideas as deficient ‘laggards’ rather than rational actors

Evidence

In the field of mass communication, Everett Rogers’s Diffusion of Innovations is about how new ideas could be spread in traditional societies. Rogers concluded that those who were not open to “innovation” introduced by the West were best understood as “laggards.” In short, those who resisted Western propaganda/“innovation” were seen not as individuals acting in their own interests or resisting imperial intervention but rather as hidebound traditionalists blocking progress. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 250

Categorization

• SHARE: Diffusion of Innovations being fundamentally Orientalist-racist is a surprising reframe a specific colleague in media studies would appreciate.
• XREF: connects to: Resistance to Western influence was pathological as backwardness rather than legitimate agency

Broader Connections

• Resistance to Western influence was pathological as backwardness rather than legitimate agency #corroborates (1.00)