The Idea of the West: Culture, Politics and History

This book provides a clear, topical and wide-ranging introduction to the idea of "the West." It engages with both Western and non-Western representations and demonstrates that "the West" is not merely a Western idea, but something that many people around the world have long been creating, stereotyping and deploying. Bonnett offers an accessible but provocative portrait of the ambiguities and diverse connotations of "the West," teasing out questions of race, politics and power from the late nineteenth-century to the present day.

About the Author

ALASTAIR BONNETT is Professor of Social Geography at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He is author of four books, including Anti-Racism (Routledge, 2000) and White Identities: Historical and International Perspectives (Pearson Education 2000). He has contributed papers to Ethnic and Racial Studies, Journal of Historical Sociology, Sociology, New Community and many other leading journals. He has also written for History Today, The New Internationalist, The Scotsman, the Observer and New Statesman.