World Civilizations,

Lecture 1: First Things

What is a civilization? The word itself has been

derived from Latin "civitas", the “public sphere”.
In other words, civilization as a notion is
generally associated with statehood. However,
the meaning of the term seems highly unclear.

The political discourse in the media:

“The whole civilized world believes that…”

This prompts that there are:

Civilized vs uncivilized people, or civilized and
uncivilized nations

Collins Dictionary 1991-2003 entries:

uncivilized, uncivilised [ʌnˈsɪvɪˌlaɪzd]

adj
1. (Social Science / Anthropology &
Ethnology) (of a tribe or people) not yet
civilized,
esp. preliterate
2. lacking culture or sophistication
uncivilizedly , uncivilisedly [ʌnˈsɪvɪˌlaɪzɪdlɪ]
adv
uncivilizedness , uncivilisedness n

Orientations in the study of civilizations:

-political (civilization as a “polity”,

an organized, permanent gathering of people
with clearly defined powers)

-cultural:

a/a level of culture, the technical and

organizational aspect of culture

b/one of cultural circles,

historically existing groups)
Merriam Webster Dictionary AD 2022:
Definition of civilization

1a: a relatively high level of cultural and technological

developmentspecifically : the stage of cultural development at which
writing and the keeping of written records is attained

b: the culture characteristic of a particular time or placethe impact of

European civilization on the lands they colonized

2: the process of becoming civilized; civilization is a slow process with

many failures and setbacks

3a: refinement of thought, manners, or tasteexhibiting a high level

of civilization

b: a situation of urban comfortOur African safari was quite interesting,

but it was great to get back to civilization.
Some definitions of civilizations

Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975):

 “Civilizations are intelligible fields of historical study . . …
which have greater extension, in both space and time, than
national states or city or city-states, or any other political
communities.”

 “Civilizations are institutions of the highest order—

institutions, that is, which comprehend without being
comprehended.”

Carroll Quigley (1910-1977):

“Civilization is a producing society with an instrument of
expansion.”

Philip Bagby:

“Civilization, let us agree then, is the culture of

cities and cities we shall define as agglomerations of
dwellings many (or to be more precise, a majority) of
whose inhabitants are not engaged in producing food.
Alfred Louis Kroeber
refuses to distinguish civilizations from other cultures.
In the 1948 second edition of his Anthropology he writes:

“By many anthropologists, ever since Tylor, the words

“civilization” and “culture” are often used to denote the same
thing; and always they denote only degrees of the same thing.

In the 1957 Style and Civilizations he elaborates, but has not

changed his mind:

“Like many anthropologists, I use the word civilization

almost synonymously with the word culture. At any rate
I try to put no weight on the distinction. There is
a widespread usage of the term civilization as meaning
advanced or literate or mainly urban culture. With this
usage I do not quarrel, but I have tried to choose between
the two near synonyms in such a way that the reader
would realize in any given situation whether I meant the
more general or the more slanted sense”.
Factors and conditions for civilization

What are the 4 main factors for civilization?

Civilization describes a complex way of life characterized
by -urban areas,
-shared methods of communication,
-administrative infrastructure,
-division of labor.

In another concept: to be considered a civilization, the 7

following requirements must be met:
-Stable food supply
-Social structure
-System of government
-Religious system
-Highly developed culture
-Advances in technology
-Highly developed written language
Another:
The eight features of civilizations include
-cities,
-organized central governments,
-complex religions,
-job specialization,
-social classes,
-arts and architecture,
-public works
-writing.