Nineteenth-century theory defined every civilization in relation to a singular Western ideal

Evidence

In the nineteenth century it was widely believed that human society was divided into different and distinct civilizations, each of which had a core set of values driving it. This theory held that the West, as a unique civilization with roots in ancient Greece, had certain qualities that differentiated it from all other civilizations. These included “freedom, law, rationality, science, progress, intellectual curiosity, and the spirit of invention, adventure and enterprise.” Every other civilization was then defined in relation to this notion of the “West.” … Arabs were a simple people who were “for the most part solitary, romantic men.” While Islam had raised these people up from their simple and “savage” state to “a middle degree of civilization,” they were unable to grow further, he asserted. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 169

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Said’s Orientalism framework and the civilizational-hierarchy discourse that underwrites contemporary ‘clash of civilizations’ arguments. — connects to: Nineteenth-century Orientalism claimed every Asiatic civilization as its object; Nineteenth-century Orientalism traded Enlightenment universalism for a hierarchy of civilizations. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 193; The ideal of a universal civilization serves Western dominance interests — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 176 (+6 more)
• DEFINE: Covers how ‘civilizations’ were conceptualized as discrete essences with a core set of Western values as the yardstick.

Broader Connections

• Nineteenth-century Orientalism claimed every Asiatic civilization as its object #expands (0.85)
• Nineteenth-century Europe traded Enlightenment universalism for imperialist superiority #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 119
• Nineteenth-century Orientalism traded Enlightenment universalism for a hierarchy of civilizations. #corroborates (0.82) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 193
• Western imperial particularism was disguised as universal civilization #corroborates (0.82) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 372
• The ideal of a universal civilization serves Western dominance interests #expands (0.80) — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 176
• Civilization in the singular coexisted historically with many civilizations #qualifies (0.78) — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 155
• Western modernity is a hegemonic particularism disguised as universalism #expands (0.78) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 153
• Nineteenth-century knowledge demanded historical development stages for every object #expands (0.75)
• Western universalism functions as imperialism from the perspective of non-Western societies #expands (0.75) — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 489