I find every year, as a historian, I need to reflect on the vocabulary I use when talking about the world. Last year it was changing from BC/AD to BCE/CE. This year I think it the concept of 'The West' and Western that has to go.

I'd be interested to hear from others.

Generally when I have spoken about 'The West' it has been in a critical fashion but I think it still recapitulates the idea that the concept of a West exists... like... at all!

Also I've been making air quotes around these terms for too long, it's time to send them bye bye.

To those who are still keen on using this phrase, this isn't a challenge, but a genuine question: What do you believe the term 'West' or 'Western' refers to when we talk about culture/art/history/values/politics?

I think we also have to face up to the fact that Western often just means 'White' and non-western 'Not white'. It's a coward's way to talk about history and race, and I want to be less like my namesake!