Georgios Varouxakis

Georgios Varouxakis is completing a substantial book monograph on the history of the idea of “the West” (to be published by Princeton University Press in 2025). The book first analyzes when, how, and why “the West” came to be used to refer to a social or political entity based on cultural commonality. It then follows the many and often surprising changes in the uses and meanings of the term, and the different intentions and repercussions related to the contested uses, definitions, and membership lists. The majority of current theories as to when “the West” began or what it stands for emphasize selectively, disproportionately, and often polemically, certain layers of the different uses of the concept during its long history. Thanks to this thorough intellectual history of the idea of the West, both its current plethora of meanings and its potential for future meanings can be analyzed.