Review: Empire and Knowledge: More Troubles, New Opportunities for Sociology

Author(s): Steven Seidman

Review by: Steven Seidman
Source: Contemporary Sociology, Vol. 25, No. 3 (May, 1996), pp. 313-316
Published by: American Sociological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2077439
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CONTEMPORARYSOCIOLOGY
which the white middle and upper classes
shape racial outcomes.The book directed
attentionto critical issues pertainingto
poverty,includinga focus on the systemic
and enduringqualitiesof Black poverty.At
the same time,I believe that the analytic
flaws and political angle of DSR were as
responsibleforthebook'ssuccessas were its
virtues.
References
Collins, Sharon. Black Corporate Executives, The
Making and Breaking of a Black Middle Class.
Temple University Press, forthcoming 1996.
Featherman, David L. and Robert M. Hauser. "Changes
in the Socio-economic Stratification of the Races,
1962-73." American Journal of Sociology, 82

(November 1976): 621-49.

Freeman, Richard. "Black Economic Progress Since

1964." The Public Interest 52 (Summer 1978):

52-68.

Geschwender, James. Class, Race and Worker Insurgency. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

1977.

Glazer, Nathan. Affirmative Discrimination: Ethnic

Inequality and Public Policy. New York: Basic
Books, 1975.
Greeley, Andrew. "Racism Fading But Poverty Isn't."
Chicago Tribune, March 21, 1978.

313

Jackman,Maryand RobertJackman.Class Awareness

in the United States. Berkeley: Universityof
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Leggett,John.Class, Race, and Labor: Working-Class
Consciousness in Detroit. New York: Oxford
University
Press,1968.
Margolis,RichardJ. "If We Won, Why Aren't We
Smiling?"Change (April 1979): 54-56.
Marret,Cora Bagley. "The Precariousnessof Social
Class in Black America."ContemporarySociology,
v. 9 January1980): 16-19.
Moynihan,Daniel. "The Schism in Black America."
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Page, Clarence.Interview,
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Payne, Charles. "On the Declining and Increasing
Significanceof Race." Caste and Class Controversy.
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Record, Wilson. "Review of The Declining Significance of Race." AmericanJournal of Sociology,v.
85:4 january 1980) 965-68.
Schuman, Howard, Charlotte Stech, and Lawrence
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Empire and Knowledge: More

Troubles, New Opportunities
for Sociology*
STEVENSEIDMAN

State UniversityofNew York,Albany

No previous CS review.

Orientalism, by Edward Said. New York:

Sociology was the inventionof the West. The

Pantheon Books, 1978. 368 pp. $14.00 paper.
ISBN: 0-394-74067-X.
breakthroughperiod occurred between the
1880s and World War I. Distinct national
traditionsof sociology materialized-in Germany (Weber, Simmel), in France (Tarde,
taneouslyforgedimperialempires of unprecDurkheim), in Italy (Pareto, Mosca), in
edented scope and power. In particular,the
England (Hobhouse, Spencer), and in the
United States,England,Germany,and France
United States (Du Bois, Small). It is not
exercised dominion over much of Asia and
coincidental, though rarely noted in its
Africa.Indeed, by World War I, 85 percent of
disciplinary histories, that this period was
the earth's surfacewas under the dominance
also the high point of Western imperialism.
of the West. It is curious then that "empire,"
The nationsthatproduced sociology simulor the dynamicsof colonialism and imperialism, were untheorized by classical sociolo*My thanks to Ali Mirsepassi for his helpful gists. To be sure, Weber, Sumner, Spencer,
and Durkheimwere aware of imperialismand
comments.

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314

CONTEMPORARYSOCIOLOGY

at times addressed this social factin political political of the Arab-Israeliwars between '67
and, even occasionally, in sociological writ- and '73, and the theoretical "revolutions" in
ings.However,thedynamicsof empirewere the West associated with poststructuralism,
not incorporatedinto the basic categories, Orientalism is both an ambitious scholarly
models of explanation,and narrativesof effortaimed at producing a genealogy of
social developmentof theclassical sociolo- "Oriental" studies and a relentlesslypolitical
book intent on documenting the entanglegists.
The failure of these sociologists to inte- ment of the Western Enlightenmenttradition
grate the dynamics of empire into their core in the dominationof the non-Westernworld.
perspectives does not mean they went It is a book that is deeply critical of liberal
untheorized. Important efforts to explain humanism for masking a historyof Western
empire and write it into the dramatic center colonial dominion in the mythic figures of
of the storyof modernitywere proposed by human progress,truth,and freedom.And yet,
marxist contemporaries of the sociologists, Said defendsthe values of individualism,high
such as Rosa Luxemburg, Rudolf Hilferding culture, and tolerance by detailing the evils
and Lenin, and by "liberal" social thinkers of dogmatismand stereotypicalthinking.
Although the author of many important
such as JohnHobson and Joseph Schumpeter
books addressingliterarytheoryand contem(see Mommsen 1980).
The worldwide movements of decoloniza- porary Middle Eastern politics, Orientalism
tion in the post-World War II period has been Said's most influential.It has not
promptedfurthereffortsto conceptualize the only shaped the disciplines of English,
relation of empire and society. However, in Comparative Literature, "Oriental" studies,
contrast to the previous generation of theo- and cultural studies but is arguably the key
rists (and many of their successors, such as text in what is today called "colonial
Arendt,Aron, or Rostow) who were "West- discourse studies" and "post-colonial theory"
ern" in origin and social and intellectual (see Williams and Chrisman 1994; Young
identification,alternativetheories of empire 1995).
Drawing on Foucault's effortsto conceptuwere proposed by individualswhose perspectives were profoundlyshaped by the experi- alize knowledge and power as interrelated
ence of being a colonial subject. On the one and as a potent social force, and Gramsci's
hand, the existingrudimentaryMarxisttheo- focus on the cultural conditions sustaining
ries of imperialism were elaborated into domination in class-structuredsocieties, Said
complex models of uneven national develop- intended Orientalism to expose the extent
ment and into a world-systemsperspective to which "Eurocentric" cultural meanings,
(e.g., SamirAmin,A. Emmanuel,Andre Frank, fromfolkbeliefsand popular travelwritingto
Harry Magdoff,and Immanuel Wallerstein). literary and scholarly knowledges, were
On the otherhand, "post-colonial" intellectu- pivotal in Western imperialism.Specifically,
als such as FrantzFanon,AlbertMemmi,C. L. Said argued thatwhile empire is surelyabout
R. James, and Aime Cesaire emphasized the territorialdominion and material gain, it is
culturaland psychological aspects of colonial just as much, and inseparablyabout, cultural
domination and resistance. Edward Said's meanings. Said's thesis pressed beyond the
Orientalism is very much in the latter limited claim that ideas legitimate imperialism to the proposition that culture made
traditionof theorizingempire.
Growing up in the British colonies of empire possible by producing the desire for
Egypt and Palestine and self-identifiedas an it and establishinga normativeframeworkfor
Arab and Palestinian,yet educated at Prince- imperialpractices.
In Orientalism, Said argued that a conditon and Harvard and assuming the post of
Professorof English and Comparative Litera- tion of Western imperialism has been, and
ture at Columbia Universitysince the 1960s, still is, the representationaldivision between
the "Occident" and the "Orient." Said highSaid straddles the East and the West-the
world of revolutionarypolitics and the gen- lighted several key features of this cultural
teel world of Western high culture. Said's trope. First,it is throughthe concept of the
hybrid social and intellectual positioning Orient thatWesterners"know" the particular
accounts for much of the brilliance and societies of the East. India, China, or Egypt
ambiguities of Orientalism. Born out of the are understood as instances of the Orient.

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CONTEMPORARYSOCIOLOGY 315
Second, the Orient is meaningful only in
contrast to the Occident. Both terms are
defined in highly stylized, formulaic, and
static ways. For example, the Oriental is
figured as passive, sensuous, childlike, or
irrational and despotic. Third, these very
qualities position the Orient as morally
inferiorto, and in need of the authorityand
dominion of, the Occident, whose democratic and rational essence marks its superiority.
AlthoughOrientalism,as folkbelief,can be
traced back to Ancient Greece, Said focuses
on the production of this symbolic figurein
modern Westernknowledges,in particularin
the discipline of "Oriental studies," which
took shape in late-eighteenth-centuryEurope. Said approaches the accumulation of
knowledge of the "Orient" not as indicating
the progress of truth but as part of the
making of the Orient as an object of
knowledge and power. Western knowledges
fashioned a concept of the Orient that
reflectedwhat Westernerswanted and imagined the East to be, ratherthan what it really
was. This was a symbolic construction that
presupposed and contributed to Western
political-economic dominion.
Said's originalitypivoted on the thesis that
imperialismis as much about narrationand
cultural meanings as it is about political
economy. Culture shapes colonial desires
and offerssymbolic incitementsand justifications for territorialexpansion. In particular,
Said emphasized the role of scientificknowledge, not the "irrationalism"of religion or
myth,in the makingof empire. The crowd of
philologists, historians,and social scientists
thatpushed theirway onto the historicscene
of Western modernity literally created the
Orient as a culturalfantasyand projection of
Westerndesire and power. Their knowledges
accrued material force from the concrete
practices of imperialpolicies and administration. Hence, Orientalism is not only a
contributionto theories of imperialism,but
proposes "empire" as a core category for
analyzing"the social" and social knowledge.
Said has had enormous influence across
many disciplines and fields of knowledge. In
particular,as an exemplary study of colonial
discourse and its role in the making and
unmakingof empire, Orientalism has helped
to generate a rich field of literary,historical,
and social scientificstudies (e.g., Brantlinger

1988; Breckenridge and Veer 1993; Carrier

1995; Inden 1990; JanMohamed 1983; Mutman forthcoming). Orientalism has not,
however, been without its critics. Said has
been taken to task for neglectingmaterialor
social structuralanalysis and the politics of
resistance,essentializingthe West and Orientalism in his totalizingcritique of Orientalist
studies, leaving unaddressed the tensions
between his poststructuraliStapproach and
his avowed humanism,and wafflingbetween
a postmodern critique of representationand
a lingering objectivism (see Ahmad 1992;
Bhabha 1994; Clifford1988; Mani and Frankenberg 1985; Lowe 1991).
Said has had, sad to say, little influence in
sociology. While theories of dependence and
World-Systemperspectives have made sociologists aware of the dynamics of empire,
theyremainperipheralto Western,especially
American,sociology.Moreover,theseperspectives evidence the economism of Marxism,
rather than the semiotic and Foucauldian
emphases of Said. I would conjecture thatthe
almost complete neglect of Orientalism by
American sociologists is, in part, connected
to their resistance to Foucauldian and poststructuralperspectives, a refusal that contrasts sharply with our brethren discipline,
anthropology (e.g., Asad, Clifford,Fabian,
Fischer,Marcus, Pratt).
How might sociologists profitfrom Said's
work?First,Said urges us to consider empire,
alongside class, gender, race, social differentiation,or nationalism,as a core macro-andmicrosocial dynamic. This means rewriting
the historyand sociology of "modernity,"and
the discourses of modernity,including sociology, in relation to the dynamics of empire.
Second, Orientalism, but also Culture and
Imperialism, stands as a powerful exemplar
of a type of cultural sociology that is both
attentiveto symbol as meaning and as power
and attentive to the mutual interrelationof
symbolic,narrativeconstructionsand "material" structures of rulership and resistance.
Moreover, Said makes the problem of difference or the social production of "Otherness"
central to cultural social studies. Indeed, his
work makes the question of "the Other" a
key problem forsocial knowledge. He forces
us to consider seriouslyhow we should study
social differenceswithout essentializingand
positioningthem as inferiorand subordinate.
Third, Said compels us to approach knowl-

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316

COATEMPORARYSOCOLOGY

edge itselfis a social force,as a partof the Carol A. Breckenridgeand Peter van der Veer, eds.
1993. Orientalismand the Postcolonial Predicamakingoftheworld,andnotalways,as in the
case of Orientaliststudies,in benevolent ment.Philadelphia,PA: Universityof Pennsylvania
Press.
ways.Said documentshow scholarlyknowl- Carrier,
James,ed. 1995. Occidentalism:Images of
edges can become partof a systemof social
the West.New York:OxfordUniversity
Press.
controlthroughconstructing
and enforcing Clifford,James. 1988. "On Orientalism." In The
normalizingidentitiesand social codes. If
Predicamentof Culture.Cambridge,MA: Harvard
knowledgeis intertwined
withpower,knowl- UniversityPress.
edge producerssuch as sociologistsmust Inden, Ronald. 1990. Imagining India. Oxford:
Blackwel.
assumeresponsibility
fortheirpractices.Said
JanMohamed,Abdul. 1983. Manichean Aesthetics.
pressesus to imaginehumanstudiesas an
The Politics of Literature in Colonial Africa.
elaborated,multileveltypeof social reason
Amherst:University
of MassachusettsPress.
thatincorporates
intoitspracticesa reflexiv- Lowe, Lisa. Critical Terrains: French and British
Orientalisms.Ithaca,NY: CornellUniversity
ityaboutitssocially"constitutive"
role.
Press.

Mani, Lata and Ruth Frankenberg. 1985. "The

Challenge of Orientalism."Economy and Society
References
14 (May):174-192.
Mommsen,
Wolfgang.1980. Theoriesof Imperialism.
Ahmad,Aijaz. 1992. "Orientalismand After."In In
New York:RandomHouse.
Theory:Classes, Nations, Literatures.New York:
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Discipline and Punish: The

Birthof a Middle-Range
Research Strategy
JONATHAN
SIMON

School of Law

Universityof Miami
Originalreview,CS 7:5 (September1978), by
StanleyCohen:

Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the

Prison, by Michel Foucault. Trans. Alan

Sheridan.Pantheon Books, 1977. 333 pp.
$12.00 paper.ISBN:0-679-75255-2.

When the intellectualhistoryofour times

comes to be written,thatpeculiarly Left
Bank mixtureof Marxismand structuralismnow in fashionwillbe among themost
puzzling of our ideas to evaluate.... Of
such "historians"(a descriptionwhichdoes
deep channel of thought on the social
not really cover his method) Foucault is
significanceofpunishment(whose genealogy
the most dazzlinglycreative.
includes de Tocqueville and Durkheim) has

Towardtheend ofhis 1978 Contemporary been transformative(See Garland 1990).

Sociology review of Discipline and Punish,

StanleyCohen wrote that it "mustbe the

and revealinghistoryofthe
moststimulating
prisonsandpunishment
everwritten."
While
the book has been widelyread in sociology
generally,its influencein the narrowbut

Virtuallynothing written in the field since

has been able to ignore Foucault's startling
way of recountingthe place of the prison in
the self-interpretation
of modernity.
Discipline and Punish offereda stunning
reversal of the traditional empirical and

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