Inventing Western Civilization

In This Wonderful Book, Thomas Patterson Effectively Dethrones The Concept Of Civilization As An Abstract Good Transcending Human Society. Combining The Latest Scholarship With His Own Sensitive Thinking, Patterson Shows The Clear And Specific Class, Race, And Gender Connotations Of The Term As It Has Been Used And Manipulated Both Historically And In The Present Age. -Martin Bernalwhat Is Civilization? The Term, Commonly Identified With Uplift And Order, Has Come To Take On Another Meaning: The Civilized Versus The Primitive. This Book Is About 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 Extensive Knowledge Of Early Societies, Anthropologist Thomas C. Patterson Shows How Class, Sexism, And Racism Have Been Integral To The Appearance Of Civilized Societies In Western Europe. He Sets Out Clearly And Simply 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, Behavior, 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.