HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Afrasiabi, K. L. Search for Related Content

From "The Clash of Civilizations" to "Civilizational Parallelism"

Introduction

Talking about civilization is like talking about God. While the aim is to gain knowledge, often the result is only greater obscurity. What is at issue may not be really a concept, but nothing at all. Yet, concepts have their own history, and the UN's inauguration of 2001 as the year of the "dialogue of civilizations," not to mention recent ethno-religious conflicts, has generated new interest in "civilizational" questions—despite the fact that this runs counter to the postmodern aversion to traditional historiography, in favor of "micro-histories,"¹ and objections to the term "civilization" on the ground that it cannot be defined...