Today's History Question: What separates "civilized" societies from "uncivilized" ones? For example--how did the British or the Americans justify colonizing India or the Philippines? Were the two societies that far apart in moral terms, or was it merely a question of military and economic might?
So, I spend a lot of time reading critical theory and I'm engaged to an ethnomusicologist. Naturally, your question made my ears perk up.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I'd like to say I have a problem with the binary you've set up. What do you mean by civilized? What are "moral terms"? Should all the countries you've listed evaluate ethical issues with the same rubric, and be charted according to their moral standing, with some on the good side and some on the bad?
Your example illustrates the idea that Westerners think of themselves as more "advanced" than anyone who may be described as an Other, especially non-Westerners.
As you can see, graduate school has ruined me. :)
- Abby