Description
Eurocentrism is a set of assumptions about the superiority of European (or “Western”) ways of knowing and doing. It is pervasive in global governance, in the rules of economic organisation, and in the epistemologies of the humanities and social sciences. At the same time, it is increasingly the subject of intellectual critique. This research cluster brought together historians, lawyers, political scientists and economists to understand the origins and consequences of an epistemology that places Europe—sometimes explicitly and sometimes implicitly—at the centre of the world.
This cluster analysed four sets of questions.
- What exactly is Eurocentrism? If there are multiple Eurocentrisms, how do they relate to each other? What are the shortcomings of the notion of Eurocentrism (eg, in terms of essentialising Europe and disregarding the diversity within Europe)?
- How does Eurocentrism manifest itself? What reactions does it engender? In what ways does it display continuity with its colonial past, and in what ways has it changed in assumptions, intent and content? In what forms does eurocentrism perpetuate itself in contexts geographically far removed from Europe?
- How can Eurocentrism be overcome? Are there instances in which it has been? Are there instances in which it should not? More practically, how can international and comparative research projects be designed in a non-Eurocentric manner?
- To what extent is the EU (and the EUI) inherently Eurocentric? In what ways does the very existence of the EU change the meaning of Europe and “European-ness”? What would a non-Eurocentric European Union look like?
These are some of the questions explored in this research cluster through the combined lenses of the EUI’s disciplinary communities, from history to law, economics and political science, via a series of activities detailed below.
“3X3” conversations
Distributed over each of the three academic terms, we organised a series of activities, open to all members of the EUI community, focused on three main priorities of our research cluster (hence 3X3). These are as follows:
Decentering Eurocentrism Reading Group: Meeting once a month, this reading group discussed titles proposed and selected by cluster members in a “bottom up” process.
Decentering Eurocentrism Lecture Series: Each term, a selected author of one of the titles previously selected for our reading group was invited to give a public lecture to the EUI community.
Decentering Eurocentrism in the EUI: Each term, our group organised a discussion focused on a specific academic department within the EUI, in order to reflect on its curriculum, disciplinary structure, and core methodologies from the critical perspective of decentering Eurocentrism. Members of the EUI Diversity Committee and the EUI Decolonising Initiative were invited to participate in these events.
Decentering Eurocentrism Cluster Co-Sponsorships
Over the course of the year, the cluster offered micro-grants to incentivise the organisation of workshops, seminars, and other planned activities to incorporate more systematically questions related to “Eurocentrism”. We prioritised activities connected to the CIVICA research focus area “Europe Revisited” and related to applications for the CIVICA call for collaborative research proposals.
The full list of the events organised by the cluster, as well as the activities supported by the microgrants, are available in the Events section of this web page.