ABSTRACT
The “West” constructs itself, in part, through the discipline of political economy. Political economy as theory and practice comes into being through a self-idealization of the West as wealthy, modern, and civilized. This idealization splits the West from others who are deemed poor, backward, and savage. One effect of this split between the West and its others is to hide troubling questions about wealth, modernity, and civilization. Is wealth for some bought at the cost of impoverishing others? What benefits of wealth might justify such immiseration? More generally, what do we gain and lose by embracing modern wealth creation? Do other, even “savage,” cultures offer values, modes of critique, and institutional forms that the West still needs?
