The Idea
The text argues that the events of September 11 were not read as an isolated incident, but as a turning point that reshaped the image of the world in the political imagination. Instead of the discussion remaining focused on a specific conflict, discourse came to incline toward a broad division between one side that possesses power and another presented as humiliated. In this sense, the event becomes a comprehensive interpretive framework that exceeds its immediate moment.
Concise Formulation
After September 11: the world is reconstructed as a conflict between a dominant West and a humiliated Islam
Its Place in the Book’s Argument
This claim appears in a context that explains how the attacks changed the language of international politics. What matters here is not the description of the event itself, but the way it was used to reorder perceptions of the West and the Islamic world. Within the book’s argument, this serves as a prelude to understanding how conflict is symbolically produced before it is translated into policies and positions.
Why It Matters
Its importance lies in showing that conflict does not begin from facts alone, but from the way they are interpreted. This helps in understanding Arkoun as a critic of ready-made formulas that reduce international relations to a simple binary. It also shows his sensitivity to the effect of grand images in shaping political consciousness.
Brief Evidence
After September 11, the event was not viewed as an isolated occurrence; rather, the world was reconstructed in political consciousness on its basis. Discourse came to incline toward imagining the conflict as one between a dominant West and an Islam placed in the position of the humiliated. Thus the event turned into a broad interpretive framework that exceeds its immediate moment.
Reading Questions
- How does this description change the meaning of the event from a security incident into an image of the world?
- What does this perspective add to the book’s understanding of the relationship between the West and Islam?
Documentation Level
High: the claim appears in a clear passage in the book’s material.