The West: A New History of an Old Idea

How the Idea of the „West“ Shapes Our History and Present, and What it has to with Exclusion and Racism

Book Presentation and Discussion with Naoíse Mac Sweeney

Wednesday, 16 October 2024, 6 pm

C3, Alois Wagner Saal, Sensengasse 3, 1090 Vienna

Washington, Library of Congress. Sixteen bronze statues of venerable men, meant to represent the birth of „Western civilization,“ look down upon historian and archaeologist Naoíse Mac Sweeney. Where does she, as a woman from a migrant background, find her place in this narrative?

Naoíse Mac Sweeney decides to write a different history of the „West“. In her story, Herodotus does not appear as the „father of history“ but as a migrant fleeing from the Turkish province. She tells of a powerful Roman matriarch, an Islamic scholar, a Greek crusader, and an enslaved girl in the new America.

Her narrative shows that the concept of the „West“ was invented to justify exclusion and racism—and continues to serve that purpose to this day.

To register, please contact: Hanna Reiner, h.reiner@oefse.at

Naoíse Mac Sweeney was born in London to Chinese and Irish parents. She is a professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Vienna. Her research focuses include Greek migration and colonization as well as the use of classical antiquity in contemporary political discourse. She has received numerous academic awards for her work on classical antiquity. „The West“ is her first book for a wider audience.

The event will be held in English.

The event is a cooperation between the C3 organizations ÖFSE, Baobab and Frauen*solidarität.