Tag Archives: civilization

Niall Ferguson: Civilization: Is The West History?

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A 6-part documentary series from the UK’s Channel Four in which Niall Ferguson asks why it was that Western civilization, from inauspicious roots in the 15th century, came to dominate the rest of the world; and if the West is about to be overtaken by the rest. It accompanies his book Civilization: The West and the Rest.

Niall Ferguson (.com)Ferguson reveals the killer apps of the West’s success – competition, science, the property owning democracy, modern medicine, the consumer society and the Protestant work ethic – the real explanation of how, for five centuries, a clear minority of mankind managed to secure the lion’s share of the earth’s resources.

Competition: The first programme in the series begins in 1420 when Ming China had a credible claim to be the most advanced civilization in the world: ‘All Under Heaven’. England on the eve of the Wars of the Roses would have seemed quite primitive by contrast.

Science: In 1683 the Ottoman army laid siege to Vienna, the capital of Europe’s most powerful empire. Domination of West by East was an alarmingly plausible scenario. But Islam was defeated: not so much by firepower as by science.

Civilization Cover (Amazon)Property: Professor Ferguson asks why North America succeeded while South America for so many centuries lagged behind. The two had much in common (not least the subjugation of indigenous peoples and the use of slavery by European immigrants), but they differed profoundly on individual property rights, the rule of law and representative government.

Medicine: The French Empire consciously set out to civilize West Africa by improving public health as well as building a modern infrastructure. Yet in other European empires – notably Germany’s in southwest Africa – colonial rule led to genocide. What was the link from medical science to racial pseudo-science?

Consumerism: Today the world is becoming more homogenous and, with increasingly few exceptions, big-name brands dominate main streets, high streets and shopping malls all over the globe.

Work: The sixth element that enabled the West to dominate the rest was the work ethic. Max Weber famously linked it to Protestantism, but the reality is that any culture, regardless of religion, is capable of embracing the spirit of capitalism by working hard, saving, and accumulating capital.

You can also watch his lecture Empires on the Edge of Chaos on fora.tv (from ABC’s Big Ideas) or The Ascent of money: An evolutionary approach to financial history from Gresham College.

Another thematically related lecture: Ian Morris: Why the West Rules – For Now

Update: Does Islam Stand Against Science? (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

Peter Katzenstein on Why the “Clash of Civilizations” is Wrong

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Via ABC (65m 27s):

In the early 1990s, Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington developed his famous “clash of civilizations” theory. In it he argued that history is driven by distinct international forces, like Islam and the west, competing for supremacy. Tin soldiersThis seemed to be illustrated by the events of 9/11. However, delivering this lecture at the University of Sydney, world-renowned political scientist Peter Katzenstein argued that the view that civilizations comprise of homogeneous racial and religious groups is simplistic and untrue. Rather, civilizations are pluralistic and highly diverse within themselves, and more likely to engage with each other than to clash.

German born, American based academic Peter J. Katzenstein is the President of the American Political Science Association and the Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies at Cornell University. He received his PhD at Harvard University, and also has degrees from the London School of Economics and Swarthmore College. He has written several books and articles on political science and international relations, his latest book “Beyond Paradigms: Analytic Eclecticism in World Politics” will be published in 2010.

A similarly themed and well-known lecture by Edward Said called “The Myth of Culture Clash” :

Six Easy Steps to Avert the Collapse of Civilization

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From fora.tv and the Long Now Foundation:

David Eagleman is a neuroscientist and a fiction writer. During the day, he directs the Laboratory for Perception and Action and the Initiative on Neuroscience and Law at Baylor College of Medicine. He is best known for his work on time perception, synesthesia, and neurolaw.