After Savagery

Written during the ongoing genocide in Gaza, this book is a searing indictment of Western philosophy, exposing its foundational role in justifying settler colonialism and the systematic erasure of colonized peoples. The author channels a lucid fury to dissect the racist underpinnings of the very theories we use to understand the world, arguing that they are ethically bankrupt in the face of such overwhelming state violence and dehumanization. This is not an abstract academic exercise but a moral and political intervention, connecting the cold statistics of death to the intellectual traditions that make them possible.

Dabashi’s distinctive power lies in his lyrical prose, which elevates the text from a simple polemic into a profound and urgent philosophical demand. Readers engaged with anti-colonial thought, Palestinian liberation, and critical race theory will find a vital and uncompromising framework here. The book's ultimate challenge is to overcome the pernicious phantom of a civilized West, forcing a radical re-evaluation of knowledge, power, and resistance in our contemporary moment.