Throughout the last 400 years, the Westerners had redefined and rewritten the history of, not only the Western communities, but also, the whole world's communities, according to their own point of view.
Why? In order to reinforce their own interests and hegemonies.
The infamy of speaking on behalf of others
In the center there was the West, while non-Western communities and cultures were in the periphery. While the West was the Subject, the others were Objects.
In short, it was the West who spoke all the time and it was the rest who only listened; it was only the West who “produced”, while the others “consumed”. Besides, the West wasn't only speaking for itself. The West was also speaking on behalf of the others.
Michel Foucault has been one of the first thinkers, who remarked how limiting this situation is from the future of whole humanity, not just from the point of the West, and what damaging risks it carried.
One of the oddest “brains” of our era and one of Foucault's pupils, Delezue, has a brilliant and shaking fixation that summarizes his master Foucault's intellectual heritage. Deleuze states the following for his “master” Foucault; “You had been the first one who absolutely taught us an important thing: the infamy of speaking on behalf of others”.
Producing an artificial Sunni-Shi'ite conflict!
Today it's understood that, the “infamy of speaking on behalf of others” is not a specialty (sickness) possessed by the Westerners in the modern “period”. In our present time, when all the post-modern expressions, which points out the boundedness and weakness of modernity, had been turned into a single expression that is attempted to be rendered dominant over the whole world, the Westerners don't seem to have given up on their “infamy of speaking on behalf of others”.
They are not only speaking on behalf of others, but they are also not abstaining from carrying out duties and invasions on behalf of others which will shape the futures of them.
Afghanistan and Iraq invasions, following them, Egypt's “internal” collapsing that had gone down in history as one of the most important “operations” attempted to re-design the Islam world…
Recently, ISIL's release and clearing Iran's way… Iran's control in Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and recently the fourth Arab capital Sana'a – following Iran's official authorities' statements –…. are ultimately igniting the fuse of an artificial but dangerous Sunni – Shi'ite conflict by confronting Saudis with Iranians…..All of these are the scary indicators of the Westerners' infamy of speaking on behalf of others, making decisions on their behalf, and arraying the world with oppressions based on blood and tears.
Intellectual poverty!
It can easily be observed that the Islamic-sensitive “enlightened” people, who are more or less aware of the weaknesses, restrictions and dangers of the ideological “great narratives” of the modernity, which are in the claim of “explaining everything” like socialism, nationalism and liberalism, are easily dispersed against the post-modern expressions' tempting “consuming” and “flattening” sensitivities. How they easily become fascinated by the cyclical formations and impositions that are produced rhetorically and unwillingly, and are presenting a miserable, shallow and submissive intellectual performance.
It was being said that the post-modern expressions, which are developed after the great narratives, which were developed by modernity and were in the claim of “explaining everything” ideological based and become de-activated after short circuiting against the issues of our era, are prioritizing the differentiations, on the contrary to modernity. Thus, it's breaking the magic of Western(Europe)-centered great narratives (for example; ideologies).
However, in a short time, it was understood that the reality is not like that and the post-modernity itself, which had been assumed to care for the differentiations and the prioritized, had turned into a “single great narrative” – besides, this time all alone –, and still failed to obviate it's mask of sprucing up the world with cruel methods of falling off.
Showing the right hand and hitting with the left!
The problem here is; First of all, all the seducing post-modern expressions like “democracy, human rights, liberties” are only consisting of rhetoric (“empty words”). There are only talks, but there are no concrete steps taken in practice. Besides, the contrary is being done; invasions are increasing works being done with dictatorships.
Until when will this process continue?
Unless there are some essential resistance elements against the Western culture's, which is now being globalized swiftly in every sense, tempting, seducing, consuming, flattening and standardizing marching that oppresses and neutralizes other cultures and explicandum, this will continue. In a vast scale, when it's decided that the codes of the Western culture, which are being produced in the U.S. and presented to be used, circulated and consumed in the whole world, is dominant in the world and consuming alternatives against it; there will be concrete steps taken in order to have the human right and liberties dominant also in non-Western communities!
In brief, the post-modern global process is serving no purpose other than legitimizing the Westerners' hegemony fields and invasions!
This is equal to showing the right hand and hitting with the left! It's important to keep our eyes open and don't fall for the trap!
ykaplan@yenisafak.com.tr
