Overview

During the frenzy over the Millennium celebrations, there was little mention of the fact that, for some of the world, there was no Millennium at all. This linear understanding of time is a specifically Western - and Christian - concept. This is an example of the homogenisation of knowledge that this work uses to show that every idea which we take for granted is part of a politics of ideas. Oppression is usually associated with class struggle, military power, and other forms of economic monopoly. This text looks beyond this, deconstructing the cultural assumptions that have emerged alongside capitalism to offer a devastating critique of the politics of knowledge at the heart of all powerbroking. Other topics covered are the concept of ""development"", which has created a generally accepted hierarchy of ""developed"" and ""developing"" countries, providing a mandate for surreptitious colonization; and the idea of the ""nation state"", something we have lived with for no more than two centuries, yet is accepted without question.

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9780745317366

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Reviews

'Vinay Lal is a new and important presence in the world of scholars who question the intellectual and cultural assumptions that accompany the processes of modernisation, development and globalization.' Dipesh Chakrabarty, The University of Chicago

Author Information

Vinay Lal is Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has written widely on contemporary South Asian politics, Indian and American cultural politics and the global politics of knowledge.

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