askchapo

Orientalism is an idealist ideology. Like every other idealist ideology, it's purpose is to distract from material reality. In this case, it is used to naturalize hegemonic rule over and (desire for) imperialist domination of countries outside the imperial core. An orientalist perspective aims to paint over the real material contradiction between oppressor and oppressed, exploiter and exploited, imperial core and everyone else by instead constructing a dividing line along cultural differences. These are supposedly so impossible to bridge, that the orientalist can only stare at them utterly mystified.

Orientalism is a cultural part of racism. By othering, it also prepares the way for more racist ideology. Racism thrives by creating an empathy gap in white people. Once the gap is established, people who are otherwise perfectly capable of feeling normal human empathy, will just stop caring once it's about the suffering of people they see as the other. Orientalism works like a wedge to widen the empathy gap. By subtle othering it makes people appear as slightly less than human in the eyes of the orientalist and thereby less deserving of empathy. Ironically, since the capacity of feeling empathy is often seen as an important part of being human, one can argue, that it's really the racist who has become slightly less human.

To identify, if a feeling of discomfort you experience might be caused by orientalist attitudes towards Asia, Asian culture and Asian people, you could try to analyze the feeling itself more. Do you feel singled out, like the person (or media, or Institution) sees you as fundamentally different? Do they seem to have a distorted worldview, but also seem difficult to educate? Like, if you don't give them a whole lecture about how things really are, they'll never understand (but who has time for this?) And even if you do, they'll just nod and use everything you say to strengthen their worldview. Like the mere fact, that you have to explain a lot to de-warp their twisted view of other cultures, is seen as evidence for them, that the world really is split because of differences in cultures (instead of the real reason: colonial and imperialist wars).

Reluctance to be educated about orientalist attitudes ultimately stems from the racist holding on to real material privilege, that comes from taking part in structural oppression. That's why orientalist conceptions are hard to get rid of, because they are associated with privileges for white people. Especially in the job and housing market and resulting from extracting wealth from other nations by super-exploitation and unequal exchange. By holding on to orientalism, a white worker can justify:

• getting paid more
• working under better conditions
• living in a nicer neighborhood
• receiving a constant stream of cheap goods from countries that are forbidden from establishing labour rights by institutions like the IMF and constantly get the short end of the stick in international trade
• belonging to a block of nations, that constantly wages war on the world

Combating orientalism is part of building class consciousness. One approach might be a metaphoricall hit on the nose, where people are made to see the limits of their own freedom in a structured, educational context. These limit experiences (Paolo Freire) can trigger a critical consciousness, where people see how they are shaped by, but also capable of transforming social structures.