Title Orientalism and Islam : European thinkers on Oriental despotism in the Middle East and India / Michael Curtis

Published Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2009

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Description 1 online resource (ix, 382 pages) Contents Introduction: What's past is prologue ---- European views of Islam and their correlation with Oriental despotism --- Observant travelers --- Political thinkers and the Orient --- The Oriental despotic universe of Montesquieu --- Edmund Burke and despotism in India --- Alexis de Tocqueville and colonization --- James Mill and John Stuart Mill : despotism in India --- Karl Marx : the Asiatic mode of production and Oriental despotism --- Max Weber : patrimonialism as a political type Summary Through an historical analysis of the theme of Oriental despotism, Michael Curtis reveals the complex positive and negative interaction between Europe and the Orient. The book also criticizes the misconception that the Orient was the constant victim of Western imperialism and the view that Westerners cannot comment objectively on Eastern and Muslim societies. The book views the European concept of Oriental despotism as based not on arbitrary prejudicial observation, but rather on perceptions of real processes and behavior in Eastern systems of government. Curtis considers how the concept developed and was expressed in the context of Western political thought and intellectual history, and of the changing realities in the Middle East and India. The book includes discussion of the observations of Western travelers in Muslim countries and analysis of the reflections of seven major thinkers: Montesquieu, Edmund Burke, Tocqueville, James and John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, and Max Weber. -- Publisher description Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 353-365) and index Subject Dictatorship -- Islamic countries Islam and politics. Asiatic mode of production. Social scientists -- Europe -- Attitudes -- History Public opinion -- Europe -- History Political science -- Europe -- History POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Ideologies -- General. Asiatic mode of production Dictatorship Islam and politics Political science Public opinion Public opinion, European Social scientists -- Attitudes Despotie Politisches Denken Maatschappijkritiek. Oriëntalisme. SUBJECT Islamic countries -- Foreign public opinion, European Subject Europe Islamic countries Westliche Welt Naher Osten Islamitische wereld. Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780511578731 0511578733 9780511651076 0511651074 9780511812422 0511812426

Other Titles European thinkers on Oriental despotism in the Middle East and India

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