Easternization of the West: A Thematic Account of Cultural Change in the Modern Era

by Campbell,Colin

• ISBN13: 9781594512247
• ISBN10: 1594512248
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2008-01-30
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In this provocative and groundbreaking book, Colin Campbell shows that the civilization of the West is undergoing a revolutionary process of change, one in which features that have characterized the West for two thousand years are in the process of being marginalized, to be replaced by those more often associated with the civilizations of the East. Moving far beyond popular trends, Campbell assembles a powerful range of evidence to show how "Easternization" has been building throughout the last century, especially since the 1960s. Campbell demonstrates how it was largely in the 1960s that new interpretations in theology, political thought, and science were widely adopted by a new generation of young "culture carriers". This highly original and wide-ranging book advances a thesis that will be of interest to scholars in many disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.

Author Biography

Colin Campbell is Professor of Sociology at the University of York, UK

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vi
The Thesis	p. 1
Negotiating Terms	p. 3
The Yogaization of the West?	p. 18
What Is the West?	p. 42
The Evidence for Easternization I: The Rehabilitation of Nature	p. 68
The Evidence for Easternization II: The New Age Movement	p. 112
The Explanation	p. 143
The East in the West	p. 145
How Cultures Change	p. 163
The Convergence Thesis I: Beat-Bohemians, Moral Protesters, and Teenage Delinquents	p. 184
The Convergence Thesis II: 1964, "the Hinge of Modern History"	p. 213
Rationalization I: From New Theology to New Age	p. 250
Rationalization II: From New Left to New Age	p. 276
Rationalization III: From New Science to New Age	p. 299
How the West Was Lost	p. 319
Some Objections Considered	p. 340
Afterword: Science and the Loss of Theodical Meaning	p. 364
Notes	p. 376
Bibliography	p. 401
Index	p. 424
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.