Kang Jung In is professor in the Department of Political Science at Sogang University.

• Preface and AcknowledgmentsNotes on Names and Asian CharactersIntroduction: From Western-centrism to Post-western-centrism Part I: Defining Western-centrismChapter 1. Understanding Western-centrismChapter 2. The Historical Evolution of Western-centrism Chapter 3. Western-centrism and SinocentrismPart II: Western-centrism in Western Political Thought Chapter 4The Origin and Evolution of Western-centrism in the History of Western Political ThoughtChapter 5. Western-centrism in Locke’s Theory of Property Chapter 6. Western-centrism in Samuel P. Huntington’s Theory of Democratic Transition Part III: Contemporary Korean Political Thought Chapter 7. Pristine vs. Secondary ModernizationChapter 8. The Ideological Status of Korean ConservatismChapter 9. The Democratization of Korea or the Korean-ization of Democracy Part IV:Beyond the Shadow of Western-centrism Chapter 10. The Negative Impact of Western-centrism in Korean Political StudiesChapter 11. Discursive Strategies for Overcoming Western-centrismChapter 12. Beyond the Shadow of Western-centrismBibliography

Michel Foucault famously stated that the modern West, while priding itself of its"democracy", has failed to abandon autocracy by refusing to "cut off the king's head".This fact is patently evident in the global arena in the continued Western assertion ofplanetary hegemony and domination. In his book, Kang Jung In valiantly wrestles withthis conundrum from a "subaltern" Korean perspective, placing his hope in the emergenceof a global civil society marked by "polycentric multiculturalism". Without equating a stubbornlocal retreat, polycentrism in his view requires a combination of global openness and culturalresistance, more specifically a "modernization of tradition" involving "learning the new byreviewing the old". Powerfully argued, the book is a vade mecum for anyone seeking atransit from Western-centrism into a more equitable global interaction among countries andcivilizations.