Western modernity is a hegemonic particularism disguised as universalism

Evidence

From this perspective, he insists, we can then better see how a variety of vernacular modernities might displace the binary division between a static concept of fixed “Tradition” and an abstracted vision of “Enlightenment Modernity.” Thus, rather than accepting the conventional story in which particularistic backward traditions are replaced by a philosophically based set of universal principles, what we see is a process in which what had initially been a specifically Western form of particularism came to successfully hegemonize large parts of the globe while presenting itself as a form of global universalism. — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 153

Categorization

• XREF: This is the Orientalism/Gramsci convergence: universalism as hegemonized particularism echoes how ‘common sense’ presents class-bound interests as neutral. — connects to: Modernity and democracy are contested concepts, not checkable off-the-shelf goods — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 31; Western imperial particularism was disguised as universal civilization — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2: Identity…, 372; The West concept classifies, represents, compares, and evaluates societies — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2: Identity…, 509 (+24 more)
• DEEPTHINKING: The inversion — that what parades as universal Enlightenment is really a successful hegemonic particularism — is the load-bearing epistemic move for the whole field.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2: Identity…, 153

Broader Connections

• Modernity’s logic defines those outside Western norms as less than human #expands (0.85)
• Western civilization discourse was built on a constructed binary of superiority and inferiority #exemplifies (0.85)
• Postmodernism’s pessimism was a local European crisis wrongly universalized #exemplifies (0.80)
• Rising non-Western cultures relativized the Western episteme #contradicts (0.80)
• The West’s self-conception formed only in relation to the Rest #corroborates (0.80)
• Modernity’s reflexivity rests on cultural commitment and power, not pure reason #complicates (0.75) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 407