Conceptual Universalization and the Role of the Peripheries

In: Contributions to the history of concepts, Band 12, Heft 1, S. 55-75

Abstract

Why are some intellectual milieus more prone to universalism than others?
Ultimately, it is about power and who can afford to ignore whom. While the
international status and recognition of a specific intellectual community—
linguistic, urban, national, or regional—are obvious factors, they do not fully
account for why the step from local experience to universal claim is shorter
for some and longer for others. By combining an actor-oriented discussion
of the processes through which intellectuals claim universal validity and
applicability for concepts with a discussion of center-periphery tensions in
transnational exchange, this article explores the logic of conceptual universalization
from the perspective of the European margins.