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Page 6 of 7

• 1. Civilisation as we know it
• 2. After the Ottoman Empire
• 3. Democratic tyranny?
• 4. The 'Islamic threat'
• 5. 'Westernese'
• 6. Telling tales
• 7. Find out more
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Telling tales

All authority arises from the mixture of legitimacy and force. Great powers do not impose their will simply through the exercise of arms, but by trying to convince us that their use of violence is not only necessary but just, ie legitimate.

The exercise of western force is legitimated by Westernese. The subversion of Westernese, however, de-legitimates the exercise of violence by the west and, thus, makes its exercise less efficient.

'As long as the hierarchy between the west and rest is enforced, the chances for acts of terrible violence remain.'

In action films, where history rarely plays a part, the context seldom extends beyond the moment when a crazed super-villain acquires the doomsday weapon.

In these films, solutions are simple: kill the 'Dr Evil' character (be it Saddam or Osama) and peace, justice - or more likely business-as-usual - will prevail. Even though the attack on the Pentagon and World Trade Center could resemble a scene from some big-budget action film, the events that made such violence possible are too subtle for a movie script - even without 'Dr Evil'.

As long as the hierarchy between the west and rest is enforced, acts of terrible violence remain a threat. The clock is ticking, we have to find other ways of telling the story of our planet, in which no one region and no one culture's story is considered to be the authorised version.

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Published: 2002-09-01