Abstract
The Anglican Tradition from a Postcolonial Perspective, by Kwok Pui-Lan, seems to have been written for readers who are nonacademic and, presumably, mainly Anglican-Episcopalian. It offers an introduction to the theory of postcolonialism as it applies to the present global Anglican Communion and its history. This modern theory, influenced by Marxist antagonism to Western imperialism and capitalism, has enabled scholars to develop influential critiques of Western history and culture in the early modern to modern eras. Postcolonialism has focused on the oppressive dimensions of the West’s imperial engagement with other lands and peoples in its political, economic, and militaristic aspects. In addition, Western culture and Christianity are also viewed as part of the oppressive and exploitative dimensions of the imperialist colonizing of local peoples, who are viewed as subordinates, or “subalterns,” to dominant imperialist Westerners...