The roots of the West’s identity crisis
From The EI Podcast by Engelsberg Ideas
April 16, 2026 · 52 min
About this episode
Marie Kawthar Daouda discusses the historical illiteracy in decolonizing Western culture with Alastair Benn.
Marie Kawthar Daouda, author of Not Your Victim: How our Obsession with Race Entraps and Divides Us , speaks to EI’s Alastair Benn about the historical illiteracy of attempts to ‘decolonise’ Western culture. Instead, she argues that the moral complexities of history must be accepted in order to develop a genuine appreciation of the Western tradition. Image: ‘Ruins with an Obelisk in the distance’ by Hubert Robert (1775). Credit: Alamy
People in this episode
Host: Alastair Benn
Guest: Marie Kawthar Daouda
Topics covered
- identity crisis
- decolonization
- Western culture
- historical literacy
- moral complexities
- Western tradition
Keywords
- identity crisis
- decolonization
- Western culture
- historical literacy
- moral complexities
- Western tradition
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Not Your Victim: How our Obsession with Race Entraps and Divides Us, Ruins with an Obelisk in the distance
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