info@woodslane.com.au
Contact us on (02) 8445 2300
For all customer service and order enquiries

WOODSLANE

Popular Subjects

Woodslane Online Catalogues

9780853459613 Add to Cart Academic Inspection Copy

Inventing Western Civilization

Description
Author
Biography
Table of
Contents
Google
Preview
What is civilization? The term, commonly identified with "uplift" and "order", has come to take on another meaning - the "civilized" versus the "primitive". This is a discussion of the idea of civilization and how, at different times, the concept has been used by the powerful in order to defend their status. Drawing on his knowledge of early societies, Thomas C. Patterson shows how class, sexism and racism have been integral to the appearance of "civilized" societies in Western Europe. He examines how civilization, with its designs of civilizing and "being civilized" has been closely tied to the rise of capitalism in Western Europe and the development of social classes. The origins of the "others", groups distinguished by their supposedly natural differences in appearance, behaviour or essence, are traced to the power relations of the societies from which they emerged. He also shows how, in asserting their humanity, the "uncivilized" turn our understanding of civilization inside out.
Thomas C. Patterson is Professor and Chair of Anthropology, University of California at Riverside.
Inventing civilization; civilization and its boosters; civilization and its critics; inventing barbarians and other uncivilized peoples; uncivilized peoples speak.
Google Preview content