Battlegrounds of Political Membership: Roger Scruton's The West and the Rest

Written in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, in this concise and profound book Roger Scruton argues that it is conflicting ideas of political and social order that drove the terrorists' attacks on the West. These different orders are based in fundamentally different ideas of membership and belonging. What binds us together? What rights and duties do we possess with our fellows? Where can we draw boundaries against others? How are we to be governed? Scruton maintains that the West is defined by how it answers these questions differently from all other societies: answers derived from the European historical experience, Classical Greek and Roman traditions, Christianity, and the Enlightenment. Most importantly our membership is rooted in territorial law and attachment. But now this is under attack not merely from without but from within by an entrenched 'culture of repudiation' and multicultural ideals that increase the vulnerability of the success and vision of the West.

While the book is short and an easy read (syntactically if not conceptually), I will be breaking our review of this book into two events because it is packed with many fundamental insights. The first event will focus more on Scruton's discussion of the social and political order of the West in the Chapter 1 'The Social Contract' and 2 'Enlightenment, Citizenship and Loyalty'. The second event, to be held the following month, will focus more on the challenges between Islamic visions of social and political order and the West which merits an evening of its own.

I strongly recommend you get hold of the book and read the first half prior to our meeting. If you are wondering whether to purchase it I've certainly found the book repays careful reading and re-reading.

As always some of us will arrive early for dinner and you are welcome to do this too.