Westoxification is the belief that Western culture corrupts important ideas in Islamic societies and other countries. It can lead to fear and anger towards the United States, and failure to respect cultural traditions can harm diplomatic relations.
Westoxification is a term first used in the latter part of the 20th century. It expressed how many of the more fundamentalist interpretations of the Islamic religion, particularly in wholly or partially theocratic governments, viewed Western ideology. Especially the American way of life was and sometimes still is seen as a major threat to the coherence of important things in the societies of some Islamic states. Westoxification could be applied to other governments that fear Western influence. For example, banning Western products to some extent in China and North Korea was in part an attempt to maintain certain cultural mindsets and especially the governmental structure of these countries.
The word westoxification implies that Western culture pollutes important, sometimes gravely important ideas in the Middle East. Certainly, when viewed through the lens of organizations such as the Taliban, the Westernization of a country or Western influence could only be interpreted as a corrupting force. A society interested in preventing women from fully participating in that society cannot be happy when other societies are represented on television or in other media. Just as Americans were in the past shocked by the twirling hips of Elvis, the screaming girls chasing the Beatles, and the sexual revolution and drug culture that followed, there is a vested interest in not allowing things that subvert or cause enormous changes for a culture where those in power do not want these changes.
While the term westoxification is fairly new, many countries have feared contact with other countries, or even with their own country’s fads. After vigorous trade was established between Europe and Japan, the country became increasingly isolationist because it was believed that Western influence could significantly change Japanese culture. After the Second World War, when trade between America and Japan was strongly established, it could be argued that Western ways influenced the culture and American things became very popular, especially among young Japanese. For some this may have been seen as a polluting force.
Bribing impressionable youth with new ideas could create revolutionary tendencies and threaten the social fabric, especially in a society with strict laws and cultural traditions. While Westoxification most often refers to ideas corrupting cultural norms in other countries as seen by some Islamic countries, this was not always the case. When Islam began, even though much of their early efforts were to enlarge their territories through warfare, Islamic leaders tended to be extremely permissive about the practice of other religions, particularly Judaism and Christianity. However, this varied, depending on the leaders, and gradually great schisms arose in Islamic-occupied territory that had previously belonged to Jews or Christians. It didn’t help when the Crusades labeled most Arabs as infidels, and they went a long way in trying to kill many Muslims who refused to convert.
The problem with westoxification is that it significantly undermines relations between countries, especially between the United States and some Islamic countries. If the United States is seen as a cultural corruptor, it can influence countries to adopt a belligerent or terrorist attitude towards the United States. When a society feels so threatened by a larger culture and feels that its way of life may be destroyed by that culture, it may see all members of the culture as threatening and mean people. US-Islamic relations experts suggest that we need to understand westoxification when attempting diplomacy with countries that fear our influence. The more imperialist the US approach towards these countries, the more likely it is that fear of westoxification will grow in those countries. This fear breeds anger at the United States, acts of terrorism, and the stockpiling of weapons.
It’s hard for some people in the West to understand why West ossification is seen as a bad thing. Most of us like our culture and may not be able to see beyond our own constructions of society and government. Why shouldn’t people want democracy, women’s rights or freedom of religion? The trouble is, though, that when these ideas dominate the minds of the people who shape our foreign policy and trade deals, they may fail to realize that not everyone thinks the Western ways are best, and that failure to respect the culture traditions of others can lead to extremely bad diplomatic relations with other countries.
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