University of Florida Thesis Or Dissertation Formatting
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
COMPARATIVE POLITICAL THEORY AND THE EXIT FROM ORIENTALISM By EVGENIA O. ILIEVA A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2013 1 © 2013 Evgenia O. Ilieva 2 To my family 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to the members of my dissertation committee without whose guidance and support this dissertation would not have been possible: Les Thiele, Dan O’Neill, Aida Hozic, Michelle Smith, and Terry Harpold. Their insights and perceptive comments have shaped this project in more ways than they perhaps know. In addition to being exemplary teachers, their scholarship has been a profound source of inspiration. From them I have begun to learn what it means to engage in serious scholarship in political theory, political philosophy, the history of political thought, and international relations. I would also like to thank Phil Wegner for his help in the earliest stages of this project. I am grateful to the many colleagues and students whose friendship sustained me and helped me keep a sense of balance while I was working on the dissertation. Completing this project would not have been possible without the generous support from the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida, the University of Florida Holmes Dissertation Fellowship, and the University of Florida Graduate School Dissertation Scholarship for Summer 2013. These acknowledgments would be incomplete without also mentioning Sue Lawless-Yanchisin, Debbie Wallen, and Pat Root, all of whom have helped me in more ways than I can possibly list here. Even with all of this support network behind me, I could not have finished this dissertation without Manu Samnotra. I express my deepest gratitude for all his help and encouragement throughout the writing process. Finally, I am deeply thankful to my family for their love and lasting support – my mom and dad, Maria and Oleg, and my sister Anna. My biggest regret is that in my effort to complete this dissertation I have not been able to see them in the last two years. I dedicate this dissertation to them. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 9 On Methodology ..................................................................................................... 13 Definition of Terms .................................................................................................. 17 Chapter Outline ....................................................................................................... 19 2 WHAT IS COMPARATIVE POLITICAL THEORY?: PURPOSE, MOTIVATIONS AND CRITIQUE ...................................................................................................... 22 The Case for Comparative Political Theory: Fred Dallmayr’s Challenge to Political Theory .................................................................................................... 24 Rearticulating the Task of the Political Theorist: Roxanne Euben’s Traveling Theorists .............................................................................................................. 39 Critiques of Comparative Political Theory ............................................................... 48 Lack of Clarity About the Purpose of Comparative Theorizing ......................... 48 The Problem of Emphasizing Similarities as Opposed to Differences .............. 52 What is Comparative Political Theory “Comparing”? ........................................ 54 Can and Should Comparative Political Theory Critique Non-Western Thought? ....................................................................................................... 55 How is Comparative Political Theory Different from Area and Cultural Studies? ........................................................................................................ 57 Absence of Methodological Reflection ............................................................. 60 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 61 3 THE PROBLEM OF COMPARABILITY: COMARATIVE POLITICAL THEORY’S INTELLECTUAL PRECURSORS ........................................................................... 63 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 63 Comparative Political Theory: What’s in a Name? .................................................. 66 Panikkar’s Dialogical or Imparative Philosophy ...................................................... 75 J.L. Mehta’s Hermeneutics ..................................................................................... 87 Wilhelm Halbfass and the Openness of the Comparative Project ......................... 109 The European Approach to Indian Thought.................................................... 111 Halbfass on India and the Comparative Method ............................................. 119 4 THE “EUROCENTRISM TRAP” AND THE EXIT FROM ORIENTALISM ............. 126 5 The Discourse of Said: Comparative Political Theory and the Critique of Orientalism ........................................................................................................ 129 Fred Dallmayr Reads Said ............................................................................. 135 Roxanne Euben Reads Said .......................................................................... 147 From Orientalism to Eurocentrism: Immersion, Conversion, and Cultural Appropriation ..................................................................................................... 155 Farah Godrej: Decentering Political Theory .................................................... 155 Leigh Jenco: Recentering Political Theory ..................................................... 170 Orientalism and the ‘Europeanization of the Earth’ ........................................ 182 Conclusion: Repeating Orientalism ....................................................................... 186 5 PHILOSOPHICAL HERMENEUTICS AND CROSS-CULTURAL DIALOGUE ...... 196 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 196 Gadamer’s Philosophical Hermeneutics ............................................................... 198 Rehabilitating the Concepts of Prejudice, Authority, and Tradition ................. 202 The Conditions for Understanding: Openness, Dialogue, and the Fusion of Horizons ...................................................................................................... 205 Dallmayr’s Reading of Gadamer: The Relevance of Hermeneutics for Cross- Cultural Studies ................................................................................................. 213 In Defense of Gadamer .................................................................................. 215 The Legacy of Europe .................................................................................... 222 Hermeneutics as Praxis.................................................................................. 227 Implications .................................................................................................... 231 Roxanne Euben’s Reading of Gadamer ............................................................... 234 The Power in Dialogue.......................................................................................... 240 6 THE HUMAN TERRAIN SYSTEM ........................................................................ 251 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 251 The Emergence of Debates About Empire ........................................................... 252 The Cultural Turn in the Military and the Human Terrain System ......................... 267 Knowledge Production Under Conditions of Empire ............................................. 282 7 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 290 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 296 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 309 6 Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy COMPARATIVE POLITICAL THEORY AND THE EXIT FROM ORIENTALISM By Evgenia O. Ilieva August 2013 Chair: Leslie Paul Thiele Major: Political Science This dissertation explores the limits of cross-cultural dialogue through an engagement with the project of comparative political theory (CPT). Broadly understood, CPT seeks to expand the purview of political theory by calling for a dialogic engagement with non-Western perspectives and traditions of thought. CPT scholars endorse dialogue on the grounds that it fosters greater cultural tolerance, egalitarian norms, and respect for the ideas and traditions of historically excluded non-Western peoples.