Q3104781

Gharbzadegi () or Occidentosis is a Persian-origin term translated among other ways as 'Westoxification' or 'West-struck-ness'. The concept describes an unquestioned imitation by Eastern cultures of Western appearance, behavior (particularly consumerism and materialism), modes of reasoning and expression with an insufficient intellectual understanding thereof. This would lead to the ruling classes reasoning and behaving in a way that is inconsistent with the environment they live in, and attempting to apply Western solutions to Eastern problems.

The term implies both that Iran is "intoxicated" (zadegi) with the West, but also a victim of the West's "toxins" or disease. The "intoxication or infatuation ... impairs rational judgment" so that Iran is prevented from perceiving the danger of the object of its infatuation — the toxins of the West — "moral laxity, social injustice, secularism, devaluation of religion, and obsession with money, all of which are fueled by capitalism" and result in "cultural alienation." The term is used to refer to the loss of Iranian cultural identity through the adoption and imitation of Western models and Western criteria in education, the arts, and culture; through the transformation of Iran into a passive market for Western goods and a pawn in Western geopolitics.