Lecture on Civilization, History, and the East-West Divide

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Main Lecture Points

Arbitrary Categories in Society

• Discussion of racial categories and their arbitrary nature.
  • Example of a North African student who had to identify as white, despite having dark skin.

The East-West Divide

• The concept of East vs. West is historically and politically constructed.
  • Discussed briefly in a previous session with implications on foreign relations.

Defining Civilization

Historical Perspective

• Civilization traditionally defined from the advent of writing (~5100 years ago).
  • Historians base civilization on the existence of written records.
• Political scientist's perspective questions this basis.
  • Writing emerged from practical needs of early states (e.g., Sumer, Egypt).

Advent of Government

• Government formation predates writing (~6500 years ago).
  • Example: Egypt's granaries and resource management as a response to climatic challenges.

Agriculture and Society

• Agriculture's incremental adoption over millennia (~11,000 years ago in Egypt).
  • Agriculture seen as a forced adaptation to population pressures and environmental changes (e.g., Younger Dryas event).

Early Cities and Organization

• Pre-civilizational organized religion and monumental structures found in Syria and Turkey (~14,000 years ago).
  • Suggests community cooperation existed before agriculture.

Redefining Historical Start Points

• Critique of the traditional historical narrative focusing heavily on Greeks and Romans, neglecting Mesopotamia and Egypt.
• Continuous cultural and technological contributions from Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Persian Empire

• The Persian Empire's significant contributions to multiculturalism and governance.
  • Cyrus the Great's policies on religious tolerance and the world's first Bill of Rights.

Arab Contributions

• Arabs' intellectual and scientific advancements during the medieval period often omitted in Western history.
  • Contributions include algebra, algorithms, optics, and more.

Historical Rewriting and East-West Divide

• The term 'Byzantine Empire' and its role in historical narrative.
  • Used to disconnect the Roman Empire's fall from the Ottoman conquest.

Influence of Non-Western Civilizations

• Shared technologies and ideas across East-West boundaries (e.g., paper from China, stirrups from India).
• Critique of the Western-centric view of civilization development.

Conclusion

• A call to reconsider the East-West divide as an artificial construct.
• Encouragement to see civilizations as interconnected and collaborative rather than isolated and opposed.

Questions and Discussions

• Various questions on civilization markers, racial categories in the U.S., and historical perceptions of the East-West divide.
• Discussion on how legal definitions of race have influenced societal perceptions.

Suggested Viewing

• Films by Akira Kurosawa, especially "Rashomon" and "Seven Samurai".
  • Influence on Western cinema, including "Star Wars".