The English word civilization comes from the French civilisé ('civilized'), from Latin: civilis ('civil'), related to civis ('citizen') and civitas ('city'). The fundamental treatise is Norbert Elias See more

"Civilization" can also refer to the culture of a complex society, not just the society itself. Every society, civilization or not, has a specific set of ideas and customs, and a certain set of manufactures and arts that make it unique. Civilizations tend to develop intricate … See more

Civilizations are traditionally understood as ending in one of two ways; either through incorporation into another expanding civilization (e.g. as … See more

Social scientists such as V. Gordon Childe have named a number of traits that distinguish a civilization from other kinds of society. Civilizations … See more

Another group of theorists, making use of systems theory, looks at a civilization as a complex system, i.e., a framework by which a group of … See more

The notion of human history as a succession of "civilizations" is an entirely modern one. In the European Age of Discovery, emerging Modernity was put into stark contrast … See more

According to political scientist Samuel P. Huntington, the 21st century will be characterized by a clash of civilizations, which he believes … See more