The West and its Fight against Tradition

Those familiar with Edward Said’s ‘Orientalism’, or even its source Maxime Rodinson’s ‘The Mystique of Islam’, will be aware of the orientalist vs. the oriental argument.

Yet, I would contend that we are all aware of this divide. The ‘subtle and persistent Eurocentric prejudice against Arabo-Islamic peoples and their culture’ abounds in our everyday media.  It is an ‘us against them’ mentality that has been fostered by each side to mobilise support and vilify the ‘other’.

(For a quick summary of ‘Orientalism’ by Haroon Khalid click here)

Rhetoric embedded within this perspective repeatedly fuels a misguided opinion and furthers the continuing conflict between Western and other cultural values. It becomes an ‘I know better’ format of international aid which frequently fails to understand the subtle cultural ties and aggravates current issues.

Gender disputes further complicate this debate.

I try every day to browse the BBC website to keep up to date with the news but frequently I become distracted by some obscure articles. I feel many of us suffer from this short attention span and random features grab our highly ‘media focused’ minds. The article “Kenya’s Battle to End ‘Sex for Fish’ Trade” is one such topic that drew my attention away from Syria and the like.

(Read it here)

Fishing is the major economy around Lake Victoria

A Differing Perspective

Evidently what is occurring on the shores of Lake Victoria is ‘wrong’ from a Western perspective as women are trapped into a situation which they cannot avoid. It concerns and centres upon their livelihoods.

It is encouraging to hear of Agnes Auma’s self-mobility as a product of a targeted international aid project. Her self-mobility is the form of aid that I have been suggesting to the international aid community for a while now when I speak on these issues. By creating an example of how the gender roles may be altered it encourages other women to mobilise and for men to realise their own shortcomings.

Nonetheless, it is important to recognise that by bashfully trying to 'educate' cultures and declare what is ‘wrong’ or right’ is firstly hypocritical and secondly negates its causal nature.

As a Western culture we have a certain set of values and standards which are not necessarily ‘right’ though I hope that many would agree that we have progressed a long way. Freedom of speech, universal suffrage and the right to a fair trial are honest intentions though often our systems fall short. Surely, that is just human nature we cry? Our traditions are born out of centuries of trial and error which we cannot confess to be the ultimate format. 

Causally, men are simply following the traditions passed down by their fathers. They may have some innate idea that what they are doing is ‘wrong’ but it is wrongly/rightfully legitimised by the tradition they have inherited. By attempting to rapidly change this we risk alienating men who feel threatened by this new force in their community. They may regress to even more traditional understandings of gender relations in an attempt to consolidate their prominent position in society.

In summary, some practices conducted by men in the developing world are not ‘right’ but we must understand that we are approaching these issues with a wholly Western perspective. We should work to comprehend the community’s traditions and encourage women to self-mobilise their rights. By women advocating their rights with international support these sort of practices are likely to change for a better future.