Paraspar, an initiative of the Office of Communications (OoC) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), is a platform for conversations about knowledge systems, particularly science.
PARASPAR
Invites you to a lecture on
A Clash of Imaginary Civilisations?
Many believe that we are living in the age of the “Clash of Civilisations” (the title of an influential book by Samuel Huntington) and that this theory explains the present conflicts and wars, in which political entities, mostly determined by their religious background, are fighting for supremacy or survival. However, for such a conflict to happen, the putative civilisations that are going to clash should exist. If they do not exist, then the cause of the present conflicts is not the inherent difference and opposition of these “civilisations,” but the civilisationist theory itself, which tries to explain complicated historical and cultural phenomena through an overly simple interpretative tool. The lecture will present the birth and development of the civilisationist theories (from Hegel, through Kipling, Weber, Toynbee, Jaspers, Eisenstadt, and finally Huntington), and will show that they are a typical colonial concept invented to justify the violent conquest and subjugation by the European powers of the rest of the world.
Speaker: Istvan Perczel
Department of Medieval Studies
Central European University, Vienna.
Venue: Faculty Hall, IISc
Date: 1 September 2023 (Friday)
Time: 4.00 pm
All are welcome
For any queries, please contact Bitasta Das (bitasta@iisc.ac.in), Office of Communications, Indian Institute of Science.
