The Postcolonial Aura : Third World Criticism In The Age Of Global Capitalism

The essays in this volume tackle a range of issues from cultural self-representation in China to more general problems of reconceptualizing global relationships in response to contemporary changes. Although the new era of global capitalism calls for the remapping of global relations, such remapping must be informed both by a grasp of contemporary structures of economic, political, and cultural power and by memories of earlier radical visions of society. Without these two conditions, Arif Dirlik argues, the current preoccupation with Eurocentrism, ethnic diversity, and multiculturalism distracts from issues of power that dominate global relations and that find expression in murderous ethnic conflicts. Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Credits -- 1 Introduction: Postcoloniality and the Perspective of History -- The Epistemology of Postcolonial Criticism -- Postcolonial Criticism in the Perspective of History -- Theory, History and Common Sense: Local Movements and Indigenism as Locations for a New Radicalism -- Notes -- 2 Culturalism as Hegemonic Ideology and Liberating Practice -- Culturalism and Marxist Culturalism -- Historicism, Structuralism and Hegemony: The Alienation of Intellectuals and the Abstraction of Society -- The Third World Intellectual and Marxist Historicism -- Culture, Hegemony and Liberation -- Notes -- 3 The Postcolonial Aura: Third World Criticism in the Age of Global Capitalism -- Postcolonial Intellectuals and Postcolonial Criticism -- Global Capitalism and the Condition of Postcoloniality -- Notes -- 4 The Global in the Local -- Rethinking the Local -- Global Localism -- Considerations on the Local as Site of Resistance -- Notes -- 5 Chinese History and the Question of Orientalism -- Orientalism -- The Orientalism of the Orientals -- Orientalism Reconsidered -- Notes -- 6 There Is More in the Rim than Meets the Eye: Thoughts on the "Pacific Idea -- The Pacific Rim: EuroAmerican and Asian -- The Pacific and EuroAmerican Vision -- Glimpses from the Inside -- Indigenous Visions/Pacific Rim Discourse -- Notes -- 7 Three Worlds or One, or Many? The Reconfiguration of Global Relations Under Contemporary Capitalism -- The Third World in Contemporary Criticism -- Global Capitalism and the Question of the Third World -- Reinventing Revolution -- Notes -- 8 Postcolonial or Postrevolutionary? The Problem of History in Postcolonial Criticism -- Postcolonial Criticism and History -- Postcoloniality and Capitalism -- Postcolonialism and Revolution -- Notes The essays in this volume range from questions of cultural self-representation in China to more general problems of reconceptualizing global relationships in response to contemporary changes. Although the new era of global capitalism calls for the remapping of global relations, such remapping must be informed both by a grasp of contemporary structures of economic, political, and cultural power and by memories of earlier radical visions of society. Without these two conditions, Arif Dirlik argues, the current preoccupation with Eurocentrism, ethnic diversity, and multiculturalism distract from issues of power that dominate global relations and that find expression in murderous ethnic conflicts.In lieu of multiculturalism, Dirlik offers “multi-historicalism,” which presupposes a historically grounded conception of cultural difference, seeks in different histories alternative visions of human society, and stresses divergent historical trajectories against a future colonized presently by an ideology of capital. Arguing that the operations of capital have brought the question of the local to the fore, he points to “indigenism” as a source of paradigms of social relations and relationships to nature, to challenge the voracious developmentalism that undermines local welfare globally. Frontmatter Preface (page viii) Credits (page xiii) 1 Introduction: Postcoloniality and the Perspective of History (page 1) 2 Culturalism as Hegemonic Ideology and Liberating Practice (page 23) 3 The Postcolonial Aura: Third World Criticism in the Age of Global Capitalism (page 52) 4 The Global in the Local (page 84) 5 Chinese History and the Question of Orientalism (page 105) 6 There is More in the Rim than Meets the Eye: Thoughts on the "Pacific Idea" (page 129) 7 Three Worlds or One, or Many? The Reconfiguration of Global Relations Under Contemporary Capitalism (page 146) 8 Postcolonial or Postrevolutionary? The Problem of History in Postcolonial Criticism (page 163) 9 The Postmodernization of Production and Its Organization: Flexible Production, Work and Culture (page 186) 10 The Past as Legacy and Project: Postcolonial Criticism in the Perspective of Indigenous Historicism (page 220) About the Book and Author (page 245) Index (page 247) Introduction: Postcoloniality And The Perspective Of History -- Culturalism As Hegemonic Ideology And Liberating Practice -- The Postcolonial Aura: Third World Criticism In The Age Of Global Capitalism -- The Global In The Local -- Chinese History And The Question Of Orientalism -- There Is More In The Rim Than Meets The Eye: Thoughts On The Pacific Idea -- Three Worlds Or One, Or Many? The Reconfiguration Of Global Relations Under Contemporary Capitalism -- Postcolonial Or Postrevolutionary? The Problem Of History In Postcolonial Criticism -- The Postmodernization Of Production And Its Organization: Flexible Production, Work And Culture -- The Past As Legacy And Project: Postcolonial Criticism In The Perspective Of Indigenous Historicism. Arif Dirlik. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. 9 The Postmodernization of Production and Its Organization: Flexible Production, Work and Culture -- Management and Culture: Transnationalism and the Production of Postmodernity -- Postmodernism: With and Without Capitalism -- Organizational Postmodernism-And Postmodernism -- Notes -- 10 The Past as Legacy and Project: Postcolonial Criticism in the Perspective of Indigenous Historicism -- Cultural Identity and Power -- Cultural Identity/Historical Trajectory -- Concluding Remarks -- Notes -- About the Book and Author -- Index This book presents a range of issues from cultural self-representation in China to more general problems of reconceptualizing global relationships in response to contemporary changes. It offers "multi-historicalism," which presupposes a historically grounded conception of cultural difference. The era of global capitalism calls for new global relations, informed by a grasp of contemporary structures of economic, political, and cultural power and by memories of earlier visions of society. Otherwise, Arif Dirlik argues, Eurocentrism and ethnic diversity find expression in conflict.