‘THE WEST’ DOESN’T EXIST

‘The West’ is a mere fiction - born from imperialist fantasies of White racial superiority. So argues British-based journalist Afua Hirsch (@afuahirsch) in this selfie video, taking her cue from a recent book she’s been reviewing: ‘How the World Made the West’ by historian Josephine Quinn. The book (published February 2024) challenges that idea that the so-called West pushed civilisation outwards to the rest or the world, arguing instead that it’s the other way round: interactions with cultures from all over the world for millennia went into the creation of what bills itself as the superior West. Hirsch is clearly excited by Quinn’s book. Will you be reading it? Have you already? What did you think?

Video Credit: @afuahirsch