This dissertation introduces a research puzzle relatively unexplored by both liberal theorists and critics of liberalism, which I term an irony of liberal universalism: while liberalism aims to guarantee the autonomy of all individuals, the expansion of liberalism through imposition became one of the external factors that interfere with individuals’ autonomous judgment.
I suggest that the legacy of imperialism has created an environment in which “non-Western” actors adopt liberal values in a marginalized and alienating way, even when they decide to utilize those values as their vehicle of emancipation. This is because these actors adopt liberal values under the collective narrative that liberal modernity is a condition for becoming a developed nation or a strategic choice for international recognition.
Unlike the existing literature, which has largely focused on viewpoints fundamentally critical of liberal morality, my research takes a distinctive approach of problematizing the harm of liberal imperialism as a liberal within a liberal framework of individual autonomy and self-authorship. By taking this approach, I aim to develop a liberal theoretical framework that resolves “non-Western” actors’ alienating relationship with liberalism marked by the counterproductive notion of “Westernization.” To achieve this goal, I envision a situated model of liberalism, which contrasts with the dominant model of liberalism, typically consisting of a priori normative standards.
As the first step of this broader goal, this research reconstructs individual autonomy, one of the foundational concepts of the liberal political model, in a relational and situated direction. Drawing on the feminist theory of relational autonomy, I propose individual autonomy as critical appropriation: the capacity to construct one’s life by appropriating existing life-constructing materials and justifying one’s judgment from critical challenges posed by meaningful others. To maintain their individuality as well as their critical and reflective capacities, “non-Western” actors should critically interact both with traditionalist views that oppress them in the name of cultural integrity and with paternalistic attitudes or imperialistic ideologies of “the West” that seek to impose perspectives external to their society as universal normative standards. Critical appropriation captures this dynamic reflective process more accurately than the existing conception of individual autonomy typically defined as self-government.
Moreover, I propose critical appropriation as a more attractive and persuasive conception of individual autonomy for any contemporary society dealing with issues of pluralism and cultural imperialism, either “West” or “non-West.” In fact, I argue that critical appropriation can provide a liberal conceptual framework that helps us move beyond the persistent dichotomy of “liberal West” and “non-liberal Rest.”
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:columbia.edu/oai:academiccommons.columbia.edu:10.7916/18gw-he46 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Choi, Yujin |
| Source Sets | Columbia University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Theses |
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