The Clash of Civilisations, Revisited
Tamer El-Tonsy
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Israel, the far-right, and the UK Conservative and Reform parties advocate for Western civilisation against perceived "Islamic" threats, subscribing to theories like the Clash of Civilisations and the Great Replacement.
In terms of making a stir in contemporary Western political discourse, Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilisations" is impressive for its conjecture that new global conflicts, once the Cold War has passed, will be based mostly on cultural and civilisational factors, rather than ideological or economic issues. He predicts that, in the future, conflicts will occur along fault lines between different civilisations, prominently along the fault lines between the Western world, an Islamic world, and China. He supports his view by adding that these civilisations, embossed with different cultural and religious values, have to clash on the basis of world outlooks and value systems.
Huntington's theory became prominent in the 1990s, partly due to the vast technological and economic gap between the West and other cultures. There was resentment and warfare, especially within societies who could not compete with the feat achieved by the West. This was not the case in Japan, who had found a way to appropriate Western technology. This gap made “other cultures” feel more alienated and hostile.
The theory found a great deal of resonance, too, with neo-conservative thinkers in the United States framing global conflicts in terms of civilisational struggle to support strategic and economic interests. Further buttressing the view of Western values pitted against rising civilisations, it went on to influence American foreign policy and strengthen the rhetoric for civilisational confrontation.
Huntington’s supporters do not heed Amartya Sen's challenge of historical inevitability inherent in his theory. Sen asserts that it is human choice, and not any predetermined terms set by civilisational identity that shapes history. He censures Huntington's conception of a monolithic, linear characterisation of civilisations, stating that they are dynamic and changeable. Sen observes that many of the values considered 'Western' are of recent origin (i.e. since the industrial revolution), and the result of global influence, which makes it arbitrary to think of Western and other civilisations as fixed and unchanging.
Edward Said criticizes Huntington's theory for being based on Orientalist thought, which distorts and simplifies non-Western cultures. Said charges that Huntington's thesis is a means to deepen stereotypes of non-Western societies by the use of Western-centric thinking and to justify aggressive policies against them. He says that civilisations are not monolithic, nor do they follow any course of inevitable conflict but rather inter-civilisational interaction. It is his argument that Huntington's theory is not likely to be one of dialogue and cooperation but rather division and exclusion.
Based on a video by Tariq Osman: https://youtu.be/bTBJ39wRqOk?si=HZQqPO2GHSnz3PLr
and a video by Edward Said: The Myth of the clash of civilisations: https://youtu.be/ty_-zHrfEUY?si=km0JolJm2wZQ8pHq
Cover Image: "This is England" film https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480025/
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???????? ??? ????? ????? ?????: https://youtu.be/bTBJ39wRqOk?si=HZQqPO2GHSnz3PLr
? ????? ????????? ?????? ???? : https://youtu.be/ty_-zHrfEUY?si=JLG7A_IitMWSbPCz
???? ??????: ???? "??? ?? ???????" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480025/
GI Actuary (contractor) and Private Investor
3 个月Any thoughts on the many people that say they are worried about the very high levels of net migration, be it legal e.g. visas or other means ? People do not have an issue with immigration per se but quite frankly the net migration numbers in recent years have been ridiculous. Its a volume of people issue, simple mathematics, numbers. It's a serious issue in many peoples eyes. Not only have there been societal integration issue but what about the downward pressures on the salaries of the lower paid, or the huge financial costs dealing with boat arrivals, be it 3* hotels, handouts etc. when the many are struggling hand to mouth. What is it ￡5bn a year on hotels alone. A huge sum. Money doesn't grow on trees. What about the detrimental pressures on housing/education/health demand and supply imbalances. These issues need to be addressed. Rioting and vandalism is not the answer but only a fool would close their eyes for the need to have a proper debate on this topic. Its not rocket science. When discontent exists innocent people suffer as we saw. Those in authority should need to listen now.
Thank you for highlighting these attitudes being displayed by prominent leaders it may explain some of the hurtful riots that happened in the UK. These were not spontaneous bit engineered. Hate crimes being perpetrated in plain sight. Does the real left wing have any firebrand lawyers willing to charge these people with hate crimes and stop them polluting the UK population with false stories.