Page 268 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

western civilization 2045

the only hope of the planet, is also “fast disappear-
ing, a victim of the destructive processes” (Akwe-
sasne Notes 1978, 77). obvious fact, so such courses had few defenders and most
The destruction of the Native cultures and peoples of them were soon scrapped.
is the same process which has destroyed and is Changes on the religious scene also contributed to
destroying life on this planet.... And that process is making them obsolete. Decaying Sunday school training
Western Civilization....The process of colonialism deprived Western civ courses of their earlier intellectual
and imperialism which has affected the Hau de no bite for some students, and a contrary current of born-
sau nee are but a microcosm of the processes affect- again religious commitment made secular history unwel-
ing the world (Akwesasne Notes 1978, 78). The come to others. Efforts to expand the scope of Western
position papers argue throughout that Western Civ- civ to embrace the rest of the world remained weak and
ilization is responsible for genocide, extractive tech- sporadic and have not yet become really respectable in
nology, pollution, and will ultimately destroy the the eyes of most academic historians. Instead, industrious
world. They argue throughout that each separate researchers multiplied specialties, making national history
institution within Western Civilization—the church, more and more incoherent, and calling the validity of
state and federal governments, schools—is colo- every sort of statement about large-scale history into ever
nialist; and that representatives of these institutions, more serious question.
from school teachers to government officials, serve The collapse of European empires after World War II
as oppressors of the Iroquois people, and are agents and widespread rejection of claims to any sort of ethnic,
of acculturation, a term meaning, in the lexicon of racial or cultural superiority was a third factor that under-
traditionalists, distortion or repression of authentic mined the legitimacy of Western civ courses. And as stu-
Iroquois cultural consciousness. dents of non-European descent began to show up in
The position papers portray all the natural or college classrooms, efforts to accommodate them by
indigenous peoples of the world as opposed to the teaching Amerindian,Asian, Latin American, and African
forces of the West. They suggest that “indigenous history multiplied. Multiple civilizations, all conceived as
peoples” are those who are connected by ancient equal and separate, became fashionable; and when out-
roots to a piece of land, who live in harmony with siders intruded, as Europeans had done so obviously in
nature without exploiting either resources or other the nineteenth century, they were often blamed for it.
peoples, and who, above all, have a spiritual under- Western civ thus became something of a bogey man—the
standing of and relationship with the earth.The dif- exact opposite of what American undergraduates had
ference between the two ways of life described in the been brought up to believe between 1930 and l960.
text, between Western civilization and indigenous Further transformations of American historical teach-
peoples, is essentially a difference in the relationship ing no doubt lie ahead.Western civ is likely to continue
each has with nature. The one exploits, extracts, to play a conspicuous part as it has since the 1930s,
destroys; the other respects, conserves, and lives in because how to fit Europe as a whole and western
harmony with nature. Europe in particular into the recent history of the
Source: Ciborski, S. (1990). Culture and power:The emergence and politics of Akwesasne world remains so problematic.Yet the whole concept of
Mohawk traditionalism (pp. 100–102). Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms
International. Western civilization as an entity acting in world affairs
is uncertain. Structuring world history around separate
civilizations, became commonplace after Oswald Spen-
instead of presenting their own up-to-date specialized gler’s The Decline of the West (1918–1922) and Arnold
fields of research, as tenured professors preferred to do. J. Toynbee’s A Study of History (1934–1961) did so.
Since tenure depended on published research it was But as globalization advances, the separateness of local
clear that teaching Western civ delayed professional civilizations blurs, and historians, reflecting their times,
advancement. Tenured professors could not deny that have begun to emphasize larger, trans-civilizational