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DESCRIPTION:Mugambi Jouet will lead an informal discussion on “American Exc
 eptionalism in a Changing Western World”. Cakes and coffee will be served.
 \n\nAbstract of American Exceptionalism in a Changing Western World by Mug
 ambi Jouet\n\nReferences to “American exceptionalism” and the “West” are o
 mnipresent in public debate\, media coverage\, and academic scholarship. E
 xploring their overlooked interrelationship can shed light on each concept
 \, its history\, and major developments in our age.\n\nThe Western world i
 s the primary benchmark of American exceptionalism in the original sense o
 f the phrase that America is an “exception.” Comparatists often assess whe
 ther America is an outlier among Western democracies on issues like aborti
 on\, the death penalty\, mass incarceration\, guns\, universal health care
 \, wealth inequality\, foreign policy\, hyper-polarization\, and the rise 
 of populist authoritarianism. Scholars can have legitimate methodological 
 reasons to compare the United States to peer Western nations given their s
 hared democratic forms of government\, industrialized economies\, and root
 s in Western civilization.\n\nHowever\, the “West” is a malleable concept 
 that should both be theorized and critically analyzed\, as its boundaries 
 have changed over centuries. My transnational history concludes that the m
 odern Western world encompasses the United States\, Canada\, Australia\, N
 ew Zealand\, and European nations\, except Russia and European states alig
 ned with Russia\, such as Belarus. It was not always so. Within Europe\, t
 he West has gradually moved eastward\, especially since the reunification 
 of Germany and the Westernization of numerous former Soviet bloc countries
 . The demarcation of “Western” and “non-Western” countries has also involv
 ed Latin America\, Africa\, Asia\, and Oceania\, intersecting with questio
 ns of colonialism and race. Patterns of inclusion and exclusion from the W
 est additionally exist within Western societies\, as illustrated by the pr
 edicament of Indigenous peoples in settler colonies and the history of Afr
 ican Americans involved on the Western side during the Cold War. My resear
 ch further sheds light on neglected aspects of decolonization that saw Can
 ada\, Australia\, and New Zealand evolve from being “self-governing coloni
 es” of the British Empire to sovereign countries and core parts of the mod
 ern Western bloc—a process influenced by the status of Quebec. Even though
  the term “Western” has at times been racialized\, a fuller history sugges
 ts that it should not be simply equated with “European” or “white.” Nor is
  the “West” fundamentally a geographic area\, as it is a social and geopol
 itical construct that has evolved over time.\n\nIn our age\, the reelectio
 n of Donald Trump could reinforce American exceptionalism and reshape the 
 Western bloc as we know it. Not only could the world’s most powerful count
 ry shift from being a “Western democracy” to a “Western illiberal democrac
 y\,” it risks dismantling the Western bloc by pursuing a rapprochement wit
 h Vladimir Putin’s Russia\, withdrawing from NATO (de jure or de facto)\, 
 and antagonizing longstanding allies\, including Canada\, Denmark\, and th
 e European Union. Beyond the United States\, the rest of the West likewise
  faces mounting challenges from China\, Russia\, and movements toward auth
 oritarianism from within. By connecting the dots between critical question
 s\, this transnational history will enhance the understanding of “American
  exceptionalism” and the “West”—key concepts in many areas of academic res
 earch and social debate around the world.\n\nPlease RSVP at : caroline.hom
 et [at] mail.mcgill.ca. \n
DTSTART:20250318T200000Z
DTEND:20250318T220000Z
LOCATION:Caren and Jordan Waxman Common Room
SUMMARY:Mugambi Jouet - American Exceptionalism in a Changing Western World
URL:/law/fr/channels/event/mugambi-jouet-american-exce
 ptionalism-changing-western-world-363787
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