Where, when, and what is “the West”? by Prof. Georgios Varouxakis
Venue: University of Kent, Brussels School for International Studies, Boulevard Louis Schmidt 2a, Etterbeek
Free Public Lecture Series - Prof. Georgios Varouxakis
Registration: https://varouxakis03oct.eventbrite.com
The lecture will take issue with existing interpretations of the emergence of the idea of “the West” as a socio-political concept. It will challenge two extreme positions. One that takes “the West” for granted as an uninterrupted self-description and collective identity since the time of the ancient Greeks or at least the Romans; and another that argues that “there is no such thing as a Western Civilization”. As usual, the story is more complicated than either of these sweeping misconstructions.
Georgios Varouxakis BA(Athens, MA(UCL), PhD(UCL), is Professor of the History of Political Thought at Queen Mary University of London and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of the History of Political Thought. His books include Victorian Political Thought on France and the French (2002) Mill on Nationality (2002), Liberty Abroad: J. S. Mill on International Relations (2013) and (co-authored) Contemporary France: An Introduction to French Politics and Society (2003). He is currently writing a major study on The West: The History of an Idea for Princeton University Press.
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