Civilization as a Political Construct

Abstract

The article examines the recent increase of claims for the right to join the prestigious list of civilizations, the increased preference for the status of civilizational identity as a wider community rather than ethnic or religious. The claims for being acknowledged as a civilization are dictated by a number of reasons, all of which are actualized in connection with the fundamental domestic political and foreign policy changes observed in the world. The former Soviet republics face the difficulties of transition from the status of the Soviet republic to sovereign statehood. Their political and business elites are engaged in the he search for a "national idea" in order to implement the political policy chosen by them. A striking example of this is the ideological project "Seven Faces of the Great Steppe", the key message of which is to "re-ignite" the history of the Kazakhs by proving the "continuity of civilizational history" of Kazakhstan as "the main heir to the Steppe civilization". Thus there is a concern about the need to ensure the cohesion of fellow citizens around the "national idea" in the name of implementing the political course chosen by the authorities. A clear example of this is the nomination of programs like Kazakhstan's Rouhani 'Jiru" ideologically based on the project "Seven facets of the Great Steppe". The key message of the project is to "extend history" of the Kazakhs back to antiquity by proving the "continuity of civilizational history" of Kazakhstan, "the main heir to the Steppe Civilization". In India, increased interest in civilizational identification is associated with difficulties in effective modernization. In search of a national model of development, there is an appeal to archaic. The use of a "civilizational approach" in ideology and politics can lead to an apology of tradition, equated with a backward past. The danger of such an approach is compounded when it is a political construct created by the power elite, much less the sole leader.