Euro-americano-centric?

April 30, 2008 6:26 AM

Is there a word that describes a limited world view that originates from North America and Western Europe?

I'm not clear if "eurocentric" already covers this, but I'm looking for an equivalent word that explicitly includes North America.

posted by roofus to writing & language (20 comments total)

I think that "Western" is usually used for this.
posted by winston at 6:31 AM on April 30, 2008

Western-centric is fairly popular.
posted by tomcooke at 6:31 AM on April 30, 2008

Occidentalism?
posted by delmoi at 6:32 AM on April 30, 2008

Perhaps Westerncentric or Western ethnocentric (/ethnocentrism).
posted by numinous at 6:33 AM on April 30, 2008

Nthing "Western". Always means NA and Western Europe in my mind (though bits of Eastern Europe sneak in there too sometimes).
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 6:34 AM on April 30, 2008

Western, from my POV, especially if you talk to Asians.
posted by Phire at 6:39 AM on April 30, 2008

Western, or perhaps Western ethnocentrism, depending on the context.
posted by muddgirl at 6:49 AM on April 30, 2008

Are you trying to specifically exclude South America? If so, Western doesn't really fit for me because most people consider South America to be part of the "Western World".
posted by burnmp3s at 6:59 AM on April 30, 2008

A neologism but natocentric would fit the bill.
posted by Dr.Pill at 7:06 AM on April 30, 2008

If so, Western doesn't really fit for me because most people consider South America to be part of the "Western World".

Just a data point, I've never considered South America when hearing the phrase "Western World", though it makes sense that it is included - it has just never been something I've included. It always meant North America and Western Europe (As I think it has to do with those cultures more so than Central or Southern American).

And I agree, the term is just "Westerncentric" in my experience.
posted by qwip at 7:07 AM on April 30, 2008

It's not limited to Europe and the US, but "parochialism" might fit the bill.

Or "Western parochialism"?
posted by idiomatika at 7:20 AM on April 30, 2008

Just a data point, I've never considered South America when hearing the phrase "Western World", though it makes sense that it is included - it has just never been something I've included. It always meant North America and Western Europe (As I think it has to do with those cultures more so than Central or Southern American).


Ditto qwip. Geographically it makes more sense, but colloquially Western has always had a connotation of "upscale and highly developed" to the Oriental (is that term still PC?) so I'm not sure South America would be included either way.

Don't mean to offend, hope I haven't.
posted by Phire at 7:30 AM on April 30, 2008

Anglo-American?
posted by caveatz at 7:32 AM on April 30, 2008

Are you intending to include Mexico and the Caribbean in your concept of North America, or do you really just mean the U.S. and Canada? Similarly, for Western Europe, do you mean just the UK, or also the Continent? If you mean those terms in the more restrictive sense, I think Anglo-American is the word you're looking for. On the other hand, I'm not sure there's a word that encompasses both the entirety of Western Europe and geographic North America besides "Western," and as others have noted, this could be construed to include South America as well. And, if you mean US/Canads + all of Western Europe, maybe Anglo-European would work?
posted by thewittyname at 7:54 AM on April 30, 2008

(North) Atlanticist.
posted by kittyprecious at 8:14 AM on April 30, 2008

In the article I writing I'm specifically trying to make a comparison between female genital mutilation, and female genital cosmetic surgery. I therefore need this word to include France/Germany/Spain/Scandinavia and other western nations where female genital mutilation is illegal, but female genital cosmetic surgery is popular.
posted by roofus at 8:22 AM on April 30, 2008

It's not as common as "Western", but perhaps "Euro-Atlantic"?
posted by Rhaomi at 9:14 AM on April 30, 2008

I've seen "First World" used for that purpose, referring to Western Europe, America, Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
posted by Kattullus at 11:08 AM on April 30, 2008

Western. Oddly enough, even Australia/NZ fits this description in my mind.
posted by dhruva at 6:30 PM on April 30, 2008

I think "Western" is the word you're looking for. There's no logical basis - it's just a matter of convention. South America is not included. If you have doubts, you could probably finesse this by subtly defining the term in your article, just to clarify things.
posted by chinston at 8:59 PM on April 30, 2008