Civilization in the singular coexisted historically with many civilizations

Evidence

Second, the term “universal civilization” could be used to refer to what civilized societies have in common, such as cities and literacy, which distinguish them from primitive societies and barbarians. This is, of course, the eighteenth century singular meaning of the term, and in this sense a universal civilization is emerging, much to the horror of various anthropologists and others who view with dismay the disappearance of primitive peoples. Civilization in this sense has been gradually expanding throughout human history, and the spread of civilization in the singular has been quite compatible with the existence of many civilizations in the plural. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 155

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes the Enlightenment-era singular sense of ‘civilization’ (cities, literacy) from the plural comparative sense (major cultural groupings).
• XREF: connects to: The concept of civilization emerged only in the modern era — , Stephanie B. Martens - Civilization and…, 37; Nineteenth-century theory defined every civilization in relation to a singular Western ideal — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 169