The Contemporary Arab Contribution to World Culture

This book comprises a selection of papers delivered at a research meeting of the International Association of Intercultural Studies (IAIS) which took place on the premises of UNESCO in Paris in March, 2009. As suggested by its title, it addresses prejudices prevailing not only in Western societies, but also in marginalized ones, especially among their Western-oriented intelligentsia. It is often claimed that there exists no ‘serious’ contribution to world culture that is not based on the Western models that prevail worldwide, especially in the aftermath of globalization. This book challenges the projected image of a dominant West serving as a necessary and indispensable model for a dependent, receptive ‘rest of the world.’ It can be read as a necessary decolonization of today’s human knowledge in all disciplines by taking as an example recent Arab contributions in various areas of human knowledge, from the natural sciences to the political economy, architecture and comparative literary discourse. Other marginalized socio-cultures worldwide, like those of India, Thailand, Persia, and Ireland, should follow suit in presenting an alternative to the extant globalization of Western norms, by offering a truly equal open exchange of human inventions on a world scale.