Europe and the Eastern Other

Hassan Bashir is assistant professor of political science at Texas A&M University’s campus in Doha, Qatar.

This short contribution to the emerging field of comparative political theory is predicated on the need to open political theory to non-Western theorists, works, processes, and events; show how these reflect non-Western cultural dispositions; and bring more rigor to political theory scholarship and practice writ large. Bashir (Texas A&M Univ., Qatar) discusses three cross-cultural exchanges between Europeans and non-Westerners during the medieval and premodern periods. The three case studies—which focus on encounters between Europeans and Mongols in the 13th century, Europeans and the Mughals in India under the rule of Akbar the Great, and Europeans and the Chinese literati during the late Ming period—provide a sense of progression in the history of Europeans' relations with cultural others. The studies are based on a wide range of primary texts, such as official court histories, personal diaries, relevant correspondence, and eyewitness accounts left by Western representatives in Eastern lands. The volume will interest comparative political theorists. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.

• Chapter 1: Introduction: Towards a more Inclusive Discipline of Political TheoryChapter 2: Between Euro-Centrism and Euro-Denial: The case for Comparative Political TheoryChapter 3: “No People and a Foolish Nation”: The Thirteenth Century Mongol Empire Through Western EyesChapter 4: “Wise men of the Franks”: Jesuit Missionaries at the Court of Indian Emperor Akbar the GreatChapter 5: “Delusions of Celestial Perfection”: The Encounter between Jesuit Missionaries and the Chinese Literati in Early Modern ChinaChapter 6: Conclusions: Otherness, Canonicity and Comparative Political Theory