The Return of Discourses of Civilization and Barbarism

Abstract

This chapter discusses the revival of discourses of civilization and barbarism in the recent period, specifically in connection with the 'war on 'terror' and the torture debate. It emphasizes continuities between colonial and contemporary perspectives. Drawing on process sociology, it argues that the idea of civilization has been a central part of struggles to shape the way in which people orientate themselves to the social world. Participants in such struggles use the idea of civilization to justify using force against savage enemies but also to constrain violence in those relations. The chapter argues that the torture debate illustrates Elias’s observations about the peculiar entanglements of civilized peoples. It is essential to consider those entanglements and the discourse of civilization that was used in the 'war on terror' in long-term perspective – as aspects of the process of civilization which Elias set out to explain.