“The Barbarian West”: A Form of Orthodox Christian Anti-Western Critique

Abstract

As is known from history, the Orthodox Christian critique of the West has exhibited many facets and variations, premised on different considerations and evaluations and caused by multiple sociohistorical developments. Byzantine Orthodox anti-Westernism is certainly not identical with the modern Orthodox anti-Western critique. But various lines of continuity can be located between the two, as both are part of a long chain of critical attitudes toward the West. Orthodox opposition to the West goes back to the early Middle Ages and the progressive alienation between Eastern Orthodox and Western Latin Christendom and the concomitant worlds, culminating in the schism of 1054. Aside from this, modern Orthodox anti-Westernism is a more varied phenomenon and flourishes in different local contexts, religious and otherwise. The close connection of anti-Westernism with anti-Americanism and antiglobalization nowadays constitutes a case of a modern transformation and adaptation of a specific tradition within the Orthodox world. Literature on such phenomena and developments abounds today.¹ Needless to say, this phenomenon concerns not only the Orthodox world, but also relates to other religions, cultures, states, groups, and individuals worldwide. There is a growing interest in interdisciplinary and comparative studies of anti-Westernism beyond merely religious perspectives.² This has to do not only with the historical rise and worldwide significance of the West (or more specifically: of Western Europe), but also with the contemporary situation.