El robo de la historia

In The Theft of History the eminent anthropologist Jack Goody makes a passionate critique of the Eurocentric and Westernist bias present in much of Western history writing, and the consequent "theft" by the West of the achievements of other cultures, especially of the invention of democracy, capitalism, individualism or love. Thus, the author examines in detail a series of theorists, such as Karl Marx, Max Weber and Norbert Elias, and confronts, with critical admiration, historians of the stature of Fernand Braudel, Moses I. Finley or Perry Anderson. He also proposes a comparative methodology of intercultural analysis that allows for an in-depth analysis of divergent historical consequences and that eliminates the outdated and simplistic differences between the "backward East" and the "industrious West." The reader will find in this work a suggestive reflection that will help him better understand both his own history and that of non-Western peoples.