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JunCivilizations, with the characteristics of equality, inclusiveness and openness, adopt cooperation instead of competition as the mainstream trend. Historical experience shows that adopting a parochial view on civilizations will not only alienate oneself, but impede its own development. China’s answer and solution for “the ask of civilizations” is to build “A Community with a Shared Future for Mankind”, believing all civilizations are equal, inclusive and open, at the same time encouraging cooperation instead of competition.
The concept of civilizations can date back to ancient times. The definition also varies, for example, the word “civilization” in modern Chinese is a completely different idea from the ancient one. Western scholars also hold diversified understanding toward civilizations.
The classification of civilizations varies, caused by various understanding. Many western scholars construct a binary classification, namely “the west” and “the east”; Others admit the diversities of civilizations, such as Spengler’s “eight high cultures” and Toynbee’s “twenty-eight civilizations”, whereas they still inherit the west-east classification, and their theories usually contain the judgement of the priority of western civilizations.
Contemporary scholars, such as Huntinton, divide civilizations into eight types based on religions, languages, race, culture and other features, and concede to some extent that “universal value” in western world is not “universal” at all for other civilizations. However, this view still falls into the west-centered theory and holds deep prejudices for non-west civilizations.
Therefore, in terms of academic research, the power of discourse on “civilizations” is still controlled by a few western countries and scholars, despite that non-western civilizations are thriving in recent years around the world. In this sense, the concept of “civilizations” must be revisited, “the ask of civilizations” must be proposed, as we seek to break free from the “west-centered theory” and reflect on it, and then reconstruct the value of “civilizations”.
The Ask of Equality—Are Civilizations Equal or Hierarchical?
Western countries once dominate the world since modern times. The concept of “civilizations”, which was originated from the west, usually regard western civilizations as “superior”, and hold hostility and contempt for other civilizations.
However, the hierarchical view has already been out of time. As President Xi said, every culture has its unique charm and profound cultural foundation. Western arrogance of civilizations harms the diversity of human civilizations.
It is true that some civilizations are more influential in certain periods of time, while it is not the reason for classifying “more or less advanced” civilizations. On the one hand, civilizations ought to have ups and downs. What is more important are their unique and ever-lasting culture. On the other hand, a “standard of civilizations” does not exist, for every civilization has its own origins, environment and development tracks. Therefore, the essence of relations between civilizations is equality, not hierarchy.
The Ask of Inclusiveness—Are Civilizations Inclusive or Closed?
Civilizations are not static, but dynamic and always absorb nutrition from their own cultures and other cultures. The evolution is not an act of betrayal but respect. Civilizations have a nature of inclusiveness, for every civilization was founded by different groups of people, and developed through exchanges.
It is equally essential to take root in traditional culture and take in external light, heat and water just like trees.
Nowadays, as inter-cultural exchanges increase and new challenges emerge, the requirement of inclusiveness can not be neglected. For the development of civilizations,
We must embrace all, forge the power of all, so as to overcome the obstacles and strive ahead.
The Ask of Openness—Are Civilizations Open or Isolated?
Inter-cultural exchanges date back to over two thousand years ago. Despite the obstacles in transportation, technology, and level of productivity, all civilizations embrace people, goods, and thoughts from other parts of the world with inclusiveness.
Openness is critical for the development of economy and society, as well as for individuals and organizations. Globalization provides benefits and opportunities for all. Most civilizations admit the essential meaning of openness, and are glad to expand opening up for better communication.
Openness is carved into genes of civilizations, and it is also internal driver for our development. Only by communicating and learning the strengths of other can one makes up the weaknesses and prosper.
The Ask of Cooperation—Are Civilizations Cooperative or Competitive?
For many western scholars and politicians, “Clash of civilizations” will be the major reason for conflicts in the future. However, cooperation among different civilizations is still the mainstream trend instead of competition or conflict. There are indeed clash of civilizations in some regions, yet it never prevails. On the contrary, it is the blindly belief or manipulation of the “clash of civilizations” theory that creates the conflicts.
Unlike sovereign states, various civilizations are not divided by clear-cut boundary, nor classified by definite indicators, thus the so-called competition between civilizations does actually not exist. For thousands of years, people who lives in different civilizations have been pursuing cooperation, taking the form of trade or cultural exchanges. Thus the human society can move forward continuously.
Even from the perspective of sovereign states, as the emblem of civilizations, cooperation is still the dominant force. On one hand, the countries and regions in modern world are unprecedentedly interdependent as most of them have already integrated into the global political and economic system, meaning international cooperation is a necessary rather than choice. By and larger, all governments, enterprises, institutions and the people are benefited from the cooperation.
On the other hand, global issues such as climate challenge, terrorism present challenges so severe that not a single country or civilization alone can handle it, therefore, all civilizations in the world must work hand in hand. Competition between countries is less a concern, and the priority is how to bridge the gap between different countries, promote cross-border and cross-cultural cooperation to fight against common threats.
Xu Qinhua, Deputy Dean of National Academy of Development and Strategy, Professor at School of International Studies, RUC.
Li Kunze, Assistant Research Fellow at Center for International Energy and Environment Studies, RUC.
The original article was published at here.
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