Emphasizing essential cultural difference feeds the clash-of-civilizations frame

Evidence

In an essay titled “The Roots of Muslim Rage” published in 1990, he explained anti-imperialist resistance by Muslims through the framework of the “clash of civilizations” in which political conflicts were displaced onto the realm of culture and religion. Political scientist Samuel Huntington, who has done much to popularize this notion, published an essay with this title in the journal Foreign Affairs and then the book The Clash of Civilizations. He argued that in the post–Cold War world, conflict would be driven by culture rather than politics between the seven or eight civilizations he named. He wrote, “Western ideas of individualism, liberalism, constitutionalism, human rights, equality, liberty, the rule of law, democracy, free markets, the separation of church and state, often have little resonance in Islamic societies.” Culture was both the basis of conflict and a mode of racializing Muslims. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 256

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the genealogy of the clash-of-civilizations thesis: Lewis’s 1990 essay preceding Huntington’s later popularization, and how it converted political conflicts into culture.
• XREF: Relates to Said’s Orientalism and the general literature on how civilizational discourse disguises imperial political projects. — connects to: The clash-of-civilizations paradigm serves to prolong dominance — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 233; Clash-of-civilizations rhetoric ideologically legitimized both foreign wars and domestic attacks — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 421; Orientalist civilizational essentialism is a pillar of race making — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 1277 (+20 more)
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 256

Broader Connections

• The clash-of-civilizations thesis displaced political conflicts onto culture #corroborates (0.88)
• The War on Terror was ideologically framed as a civilizational clash #exemplifies (0.85)
• The clash of civilizations theory rearticulated the Orientalist binary of Islam versus the West. #expands (0.85) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 217
• Cultural essentialism divides civilizations and serves as a pillar of race making #expands (0.85)
• The clash-of-civilizations thesis converted political conflict into cultural racialization #corroborates (0.82)
• Orientalist civilizational essentialism is a pillar of race making #corroborates (0.80) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 1277
• Cultural practices become racialized when they are essentialized as innate to Muslims #corroborates (0.80) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 274
• Encountering another culture can dissolve one’s own sense of meaning #complicates (0.80) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 14
• The tension between life and form drives cultural change. #expands (0.78) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 820
• Both essentialist and liberal-tolerant framings of difference reinforce Western normativity #expands (0.78) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 79
• Clash-of-civilizations rhetoric ideologically legitimized both foreign wars and domestic attacks #expands (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 421
• A leadership model affirming difference can counter civilization-based framing of Muslims #responds-to (0.75) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 1044
• Visible cultural differences inevitably breed intergroup friction #complicates (0.74) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 119
• Peace between civilizations requires proactive expansion of shared values #responds-to (0.72)
• Cultural harmony does not require uniformity among civilizations #responds-to (0.70) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 327