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Debating Civilisations: Interrogating Civilisational Analysis in a Global Age - Softcover

Smith, Jeremy C. A.

 
9781526105295: Debating Civilisations: Interrogating Civilisational Analysis in a Global Age
Softcover
ISBN 10: 1526105292 ISBN 13: 9781526105295
Publisher: Manchester University Press, 2017

Synopsis

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.

An electronic edition of this book is freely available under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC) licence.

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About the Author

Jeremy C. A. Smith is Deputy Head of the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Federation University Australia, Victoria -- .

From the Back Cover

In Debating civilisations, Jeremy Smith 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. He suggests that civilisational analysis offers an alternative approach to understanding globalisation, focusing on the dense engagement of societies, cultures, empires and civilisations in human history. Building on Castoriadis's theory of social imaginaries, he argues that civilisations are best understood as creations made from routine contacts and connections carried out by anonymous actors over the course of long periods of time. He 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.

From the Inside Flap

In Debating civilisations, Jeremy Smith 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. He suggests that civilisational analysis offers an alternative approach to understanding globalisation, focusing on the dense engagement of societies, cultures, empires and civilisations in human history. Building on Castoriadis s theory of social imaginaries, he argues that civilisations are best understood as creations made from routine contacts and connections carried out by anonymous actors over the course of long periods of time. He 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.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Manchester University Press
Publication date
2017
Language
English
ISBN 10 
1526105292
ISBN 13 
9781526105295
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
216