In The Postcolonial Orient, Vasant Kaiwar presents a far-reaching analysis of the political, economic and ideological cross-currents that have shaped and informed postcolonial studies preceding and following the 1989 moment of world history. Kaiwar mobilises a critical body of classical and contemporary Marxism to demonstrate that far richer understandings of 'Europe' not to mention 'colonialism', 'modernity' and 'difference' are possible than with a postcolonialism captive to phenomenological-existentialism and post-structuralism.