Reviews and Comments

"From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of Asia" by Pankaj Mishra is an engaging intellectual history which looks at the history of Asian responses to Western imperialism and Westernization in the 19th and 20th centuries. What makes it particularly interesting is how Mishra is able to use the two lesser-known historical figures - Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Liang Qichao - to show the way in which intellectuals across Asia in various places were engaging in the same basic question: how should Asian societies respond simultaneously to the breakdown of their societies and traditions and to Westernization and modernization. Each one dealt with the question differently given their cultures or national circumstances but all were fundamentally dealing with the same question. On a broader level, Mishra seeks to argue is that critiques of modernization and Westernization go back much further than historians typically argue (mid 19th century) and goes much deeper than is usually described. There are two other interesting narrative lines in the text worth mentioning. First is the complicated role that Japan played in the historical narrative and the overall development of pan-Asian consciousness as a both a model to emulate but also a violent aggressor. Second is that pivotal role that the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 had in fomenting a decisive break between Asia and the West. For Mishra, it was the failed promises of Woodrow Wilson and the West encourage national self-determination for Asia that led thinkers to reject liberal democracy and look to Islamism, nationalism, autocracy, and communism as alternatives.

It is left-leaning (very JNU - Indian readers will get the reference) and there are times that Mishra seems to try to minimize some aspects of the history to make his point. For example, while acknowledging the violence and brutality of Japanese occupation, Mishra argues that for many nationalists, the period of Japanese occupation was remembered more fondly as when nationalist movements began their ascent. I understand what Mishra is trying to say, but I do feel that the legacy of Japanese occupation during the Second World War is a bit more complicated.

But overall, I enjoyed the book. It tells a complex story in a new way and you will look at Asian history and current events differently afterwards.