Debating civilisations : interrogating civilisational analysis in a global age / Jeremy C.A. Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Jeremy, 1966- author.

Contributor:

Smith, Jeremy C.A., contributor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Civilization--Philosophy.

Civilization.

Comparative civilization.

Intercultural communication.

Cultural pluralism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (216 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Manchester, England : Manchester University Press, 2018.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

data file PDF

Summary:

Debating civilisations offers an up-to-date evaluation of the re-emerging field of civilisational analysis, tracing its main currents and comparing it to rival paradigms such as Marxism, globalisation theory and postcolonial sociology. The book suggests that civilisational analysis offers an alternative approach to understanding globalisation, one that focuses on the dense engagement of societies, cultures, empires and civilisations in human history. Building on Castoriadis’s theory of social imaginaries, it argues that civilisations are best understood as the products of routine contacts and connections carried out by anonymous actors over the course of long periods of time. It illustrates this argument through case studies of modern Japan, the Pacific and post-Conquest Latin America (including the revival of indigenous civilisations), exploring discourses of civilisation outside the West within the context of growing Western imperial power.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgements

Part I Theoretical engagements in civilisational analysis

1 Civilisations debated

2 Currents and perspectives in contemporary civilisational analysis

3 Counterpoints, critiques, dialogues

4 Inter- civilisational engagement

Part II Studies in inter-civilisational engagement

5 Saltwater horizons

6 Pacific imaginaries

7 Engagement in the cross- currents of history

8 Japan in engagement and the discourses of civilisation

9 Conclusion

References

Index

Notes:

First published: 2017.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

This eBook is made available Open Access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 https://www.degruyter.com/dg/page/open-access-policy

Description based on e-publication, viewed on September 3, 2019.

ISBN:

9781526105295

1526105292

OCLC:

1116030212