Occidentalism

`Couze Venn has written an outstanding and very important book. The issues that he raises about the subject, modernity and European colonisation are vital to our understanding of the politics and ethics of subjectivity in postmodernity. The book is extremely erudite. Its different account of the emergence of the subject of modernity complements the work of postcolonial theorists by demonstrating the central significance of European colonization of the Other in the production of modernity's central concepts. It is a work of great significance for social and cultural studies' -

Valerie Walkerdine, University of Western Sydney

`This is cultural theory at its best in a postcolonial setting, supported by a unique philosophical range. Venn underscores that at issue is not just `orientalism', but also discourses of the `other' about the `same'. 20 years ago Couze Venn was an author of the benchmark Changing the Subject. Now he is back with an original treatise on ethical life' - Scott Lash, Centre for Cultural Studies, Goldsmith College