After Savagery: Gaza, Genocide, and the Illusion of Western Civilization

In this urgent historical and philosophical critique, Hamid Dabashi examines the ongoing mass violence in Gaza, framing it as a critical event that exposes the moral bankruptcy of Western philosophy and its long-standing complicity in colonialism. Dabashi traces the roots of settler-colonial violence to a broader genealogy of Western colonial brutality, connecting global power structures to the Holocaust and historical genocidal practices. Written during the crisis, the text offers a literary and analytical approach that combines political strategy and witness testimony with references to poetry, revolutionary literature, and film. Readers will find a structured analysis across chapters exploring the geopolitical dynamics of Israel and Palestine, culminating in a powerful argument for a liberated imagination.