Clash of Civilization
In a seminar last week, we discussed the plausibility of Huntington's hypothesis of the Clash of Civilization. As I listened to the entire class argue that there is no longer a clash of cultures/ not enough to cause conflict, it began to anger me how Western academia has made us become, in a sense, ignorant.
Theorists have debated that human rights, liberal democracy and the capitalist free market economy have become the only ideological alternatives that can adequately alter foreign policy. However this is based on the fact that these are the only ideologies exposed to the west. For the purpose of this debate I define the term culture as a set of ideas, customs and social behavior of particular society
As someone who grew up with both British and Asian influences I can understand why there are sometimes clashes in cultures. Not in terms of how we dress and the things we eat, but the mentality of values and traditions. These values and traditions subsequently affect our perception of society. I have lived in London my whole life, grew up with British traditions and education however there are certain times when I debate and say "the western people", "the west" or"you" instead of "us". This is because I feel like sometime "the west" does not represent my (Vietnamese/Asian) values and how I would depict a situation.
Another point made in class was the fact that we are globalized and therefore every culture is now more or less the same. This is untrue. Yes most of the major cities now adhere to a capitalist movement, but this is only to allow these global players to maintain its position in the political field. Again, this does not change a state’s, traditions or values. It just means they also adopt a different form of economic system.
Furthermore, the West seems to be ignorant towards the idea that there are other civilizations, due to the fact that they are never exposed to such influences. To the West the East seems far away. Eastern culture is never imposed on to them. Yes, the West has Asian fairs, or Asian take away and etc but I mean in terms of the way of life and standard of living. To the East, Western ideologies are being forced and being imposed. For example the West love the domestication of things, in term of animals, human rights and etc. Now in order to sell certain products on the market, a lot of restrictions are in place i.e. animal testing or food related incidents (referring to dog meat). The Eastern community differentiate between humans and other animals yet the West humanizes everything. This in turn 1) causes resentment in the Eastern cultures as they much adhere to Western standards of living in order to trade and causing conflict 2) creates tension in the West as they attempt to fight for a change in a sovereignty that is not theirs. These values and traditions dictate foreign policy, how they prioritise situations and how that want to maintain alliances.
This difference in culture does cause a clash of civilizations as one will not be able to understand the actions another. Unless you are cultured in more than one civilization it is very hard to understand the concept that not everyone thinks alike.
Theorists have debated that human rights, liberal democracy and the capitalist free market economy have become the only ideological alternatives that can adequately alter foreign policy. However this is based on the fact that these are the only ideologies exposed to the west. For the purpose of this debate I define the term culture as a set of ideas, customs and social behavior of particular society
As someone who grew up with both British and Asian influences I can understand why there are sometimes clashes in cultures. Not in terms of how we dress and the things we eat, but the mentality of values and traditions. These values and traditions subsequently affect our perception of society. I have lived in London my whole life, grew up with British traditions and education however there are certain times when I debate and say "the western people", "the west" or"you" instead of "us". This is because I feel like sometime "the west" does not represent my (Vietnamese/Asian) values and how I would depict a situation.
Another point made in class was the fact that we are globalized and therefore every culture is now more or less the same. This is untrue. Yes most of the major cities now adhere to a capitalist movement, but this is only to allow these global players to maintain its position in the political field. Again, this does not change a state’s, traditions or values. It just means they also adopt a different form of economic system.
Furthermore, the West seems to be ignorant towards the idea that there are other civilizations, due to the fact that they are never exposed to such influences. To the West the East seems far away. Eastern culture is never imposed on to them. Yes, the West has Asian fairs, or Asian take away and etc but I mean in terms of the way of life and standard of living. To the East, Western ideologies are being forced and being imposed. For example the West love the domestication of things, in term of animals, human rights and etc. Now in order to sell certain products on the market, a lot of restrictions are in place i.e. animal testing or food related incidents (referring to dog meat). The Eastern community differentiate between humans and other animals yet the West humanizes everything. This in turn 1) causes resentment in the Eastern cultures as they much adhere to Western standards of living in order to trade and causing conflict 2) creates tension in the West as they attempt to fight for a change in a sovereignty that is not theirs. These values and traditions dictate foreign policy, how they prioritise situations and how that want to maintain alliances.
This difference in culture does cause a clash of civilizations as one will not be able to understand the actions another. Unless you are cultured in more than one civilization it is very hard to understand the concept that not everyone thinks alike.
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