The institutional basis of anglophone western centrality

Abstract

Non-western scholars usually face a dilemma if they want to pursue an international scholarly career: On the one hand, mastering western media theories is mandatory for taking part in international forums and exchanging experiences with people from different parts of the world; on the other hand, these theories are, in many aspects, foreign to their cultural backgrounds and, in many cases, seem inadequate for describing their own societies. My personal contribution to the debate arises from the fact that, although having some experience in participating in Anglophonic communication meetings and publishing in international academic vehicles, I never had first-hand experience, either as a student or as a professor, in American or European universities. In consequence, I was exposed to Western Anglophonic theories without being socialized in a scholarly environment in which they are taken as ‘natural’. Based on this experience, I contend that the global impact of western theories cannot be explained only by their intrinsic merits, but as the result of the socialization of scholars from all parts on the world in western educational institutions, and the networks built around them.