The Reverse Orientalism of Looking For an ’Arab Spring’ in Central Asia - Sarah Kendzior - International - The Atlantic
►http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/01/the-reverse-orientalism-of-looking-for-an-arab-spring-in-central-asia/251663
In this way, Central Asia is a region subject to a strange sort of “reverse orientalism” - a region deemed meaningful only by virtue of its similarity to the Arab world. This is particularly unfortunate because, as Rami G. Khouri observes, “the popularity of the ’Arab Spring’ term across the Western world quietly mirrors some subtle Orientalism at work, lumping all Arabs as a single mass of people who all think and behave the same way.” Much as the mainstream Western press often fails to distinguish between individual Arab countries, it also fails to distinguish between the Arab world and Central Asia, emphasizing broad, sweeping similarities - religion, resources, repression - while playing down the sharp differences in politics, social life and history that determine the likelihood of political change.