Civilization's internal conflicts and world order

Author: [German] Dieter Senghas, Zhang Wenwu, et al.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-12-01
Features: American scholar Samuel Huntington argues about the conflicts between Chinese Confucian civilization, Indian civilization, Islamic civilization, and the West from a Western civilization-centered perspective. The authors of this book, however, do not center on Western civilization but instead explain the internal mechanisms of civilizational conflicts from the perspectives of several major civilizations outside the West. The authors believe that when major civilizations clash, their internal divisions are greater than their external conflicts. Different civilizations can achieve "peaceful coexistence" through "collective learning," and "intercultural dialogue" is a current global theme. Several years ago, American scholar Samuel Huntington proposed the widely debated "Clash of Civilizations" theory. In his book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, he argued that post-Cold War world politics would be reorganized along civilizational boundaries and that the "Clash of Civilizations" should be introduced as a novel and exemplary analytical approach into international politics. German scholar Dieter Senghas considers this a challenging proposition. At first glance, it appears highly influential and persuasive, but upon closer examination, it raises further questions and criticisms. In his book Conflict Within Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Professor Senghas critically examines Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" theory and proposes an alternative perspective through discussions on the attributes of culture (civilization), internal conflicts within culture, modernization, pluralism, cultural evolution, "intercultural philosophy," and "intercultural dialogue." This alternative approach is highly enlightening for in-depth research on the development and conflicts of civilizations and also helps understand contemporary world politics from the perspective of the development of human civilization. The authors point out that one common misconception in the "Clash of Civilizations" theory and related discussions is the view of culture or the cultural sphere (i.e., "civilization") as a fixed internal structure. It assumes that the characteristics of each culture are inherent, unchanging essential attributes, leading to their opposition against one another. As a result, people tend to discuss "Confucianism," "Buddhism," "Hinduism," and even "Western culture" as if they were clearly defined and easily identifiable entities, sometimes even treating them as major actors in international politics and predicting their conflicts will be the decisive factor in the reshaping of world politics in the 21st century. Professor Senghas argues that this reflects a cultural essentialism, using idealist theories of essence preceding existence to explain cultural phenomena. Professor Senghas points out that traditional cultures are actually marked by internal divisions (even oppositions) and continuously develop and evolve under their respective historical conditions. Simple and static generalizations about the fundamental characteristics and values of each culture can be misleading, as they easily cause people to "ignore" the numerous contradictory and opposing viewpoints and stances contained within each culture. These debates and interactions among different viewpoints and stances are crucial for the self-preservation and development of the culture. As is well known, "Confucian culture" has experienced a period of "hundred schools of thought," and the concept of "Indian culture" cannot possibly encompass the vast array of mutually opposing cultural phenomena it should include. It has always been characterized by diverse ideological perspectives and a polytheistic worldview from the very beginning. Similarly, "Islamic culture" is not a monolithic entity. Islam has been marked by different legal systems and fundamental laws since its inception and has always been composed of numerous factions that are not necessarily friendly, if not hostile. Professor Senghas finds it remarkable that the concept of "Western civilization" seems to imply enlightenment, individualism, democracy, human rights, religious freedom, pluralism, freedom of speech, and gender equality, among other things. However, these characteristics are not inherent to Western (or European) civilization; they only began to form under the unique historical conditions of Europe in recent centuries. Even within the Western world, there has been a process of ideological division, and the Enlightenment also brought about strong opposition to the liberation of thought and to modernization in terms of political and ideological trends.