5 ms·

I was surprised to see Brazil, Chile and Mexico categorized as 'Non-Western countries'.

by chrisreichel 9y ago

nextstep 9y ago
Yeah I saw that too... I don’t understand. Is Western a political definition?
- oculusthrift 9y ago
  The term 'west' outdates the discovery of America and no longer has anything to do with Geography. It used to mean western Europe. Now it essentially means western Europe, canada, australia, and america. All of which have cultural roots in Western europe and liberalism etc.
  - emmelaich 9y ago
    Yep, and "South" is a somewhat archaic term to refer to developing countries. Australia is not of the "South" despite being in the southern hemisphere.[1] It's also weird to refer to the Asian countries north-west of Australia as "Far East"; though that usage is also fading. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North%E2%80%93South_divide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North%E2%80%93South_divide
- vacri 9y ago
  'western' means 'west european and similar', not 'western hemisphere'. It basically means most of europe (now) and the anglo 'new world' countries, though the exact countries involved vary depending on who is doing the defining.
pcurve 9y ago
Here's a map of Western countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world#/media/File:The_Western_World.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world#/media/File:The_...
- elros 9y ago
  That's a silly map, given there's no actual authority to define this and the rules are arbitrary. Here's another map of Western countries: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/The_Western_World1.pdf https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/The_West... The definition you're alluding to seems to be widespread within the US, but is by no means the most widespread on a global level. I think this map is closer to what most people consider western: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Westerncultures.map2015.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Westernc...
tpeo 9y ago
I believe you can blame Samuel Huntington and his 'Clash of Civilizations' for that.

I was surprised to see Brazil, Chile and Mexico categorized as 'Non-Western countries'.

nextstep 9y ago

Yeah I saw that too... I don’t understand. Is Western a political definition?

oculusthrift 9y ago
The term 'west' outdates the discovery of America and no longer has anything to do with Geography. It used to mean western Europe. Now it essentially means western Europe, canada, australia, and america. All of which have cultural roots in Western europe and liberalism etc.
- emmelaich 9y ago
  Yep, and "South" is a somewhat archaic term to refer to developing countries. Australia is not of the "South" despite being in the southern hemisphere.[1] It's also weird to refer to the Asian countries north-west of Australia as "Far East"; though that usage is also fading. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North%E2%80%93South_divide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North%E2%80%93South_divide
vacri 9y ago
'western' means 'west european and similar', not 'western hemisphere'. It basically means most of europe (now) and the anglo 'new world' countries, though the exact countries involved vary depending on who is doing the defining.

pcurve 9y ago

Here's a map of Western countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world#/media/File:The_Western_World.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world#/media/File:The_...

elros 9y ago
That's a silly map, given there's no actual authority to define this and the rules are arbitrary. Here's another map of Western countries: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/The_Western_World1.pdf https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/The_West... The definition you're alluding to seems to be widespread within the US, but is by no means the most widespread on a global level. I think this map is closer to what most people consider western: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Westerncultures.map2015.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Westernc...

tpeo 9y ago

I believe you can blame Samuel Huntington and his 'Clash of Civilizations' for that.