Civilization state 文明國家

文明國家
來自維基百科

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_state#cite_note-xia2014-8?

文明國家或文明國家是一個不僅旨在代表曆史領土、民族語言群體或治理機構，而且本身也代表獨特文明的國家。它與民族國家的概念不同，它把一個國家的主導社會政治模式描述為構成一個比單一民族更大的範疇。 在將國家歸類為文明國家時，通常強調一個國家在廣大地理區域內的曆史連續性和文化統一性。

該術語最初是在 20 世紀 90 年代創造的，用於描述中國[3]，但也被用來描述埃及、俄羅斯、印度、土耳其和美國等國家。

自 2018 年以來，Bruno Maçães 在一係列文章中普及了該術語。

中國作為一個文明國家

“文明國家”一詞最早由美國政治學家盧西恩·派伊（Lucian Pye）於1990年使用，將中國歸類為具有獨特社會政治特征的中國，而不是按照歐洲模式將其視為民族國家。 這一新術語的使用意味著中國過去和現在仍然是一個具有獨特政治傳統和政府結構的“帝國國家”，其支持者聲稱民族國家模型無法正確描述中國國家的演變。 該標簽的支持者將中國描述為具有獨特的曆史和文化統一性，源於持續的文化融合過程。 英國政治學家馬丁·雅克（Martin Jacques）在《當中國統治世界》一書中使用了該術語，從而進一步普及。

根據李行和蒂莫西·M·肖的說法，將中國作為一個文明國家進行分析的核心特征是這樣的觀點：中國國家的合法性來自於社會政治秩序的延續，這種秩序假定國家對其臣民保持自然權威，並且 它是其公民及其社會的“守護者”，這種國家觀與威斯特伐利亞民族國家模式完全不同。 [7] 其他學者認為，文明國家的關鍵特征是維持文化統一的精神，盡管在數百年的曆史和廣闊的地理空間中表現出顯著的文化多樣性。 有些人特別提請注意中文書寫係統的悠久曆史，或將中國的存在描述為與過去有著獨特且不可分割的聯係。

廣夏反駁了中華文明國家獨特性的觀點。 夏認為，中國研究中的文明國家話語是一個重要而積極的發展，因為它使得現代中國國家的特征能夠在其曆史背景下得到正確的分析。 然而，夏的結論是，最終，所有文明都必須在其曆史的背景下重塑自己，將中國視為一個靜態實體或將其描繪成比世界其他國家更與其過去聯係是錯誤的。

其他提議的文明國家

埃及
通過在古埃及和當代埃及之間創造具有穆斯林特征的文明延續，埃及成為文明國家的另一個例子，該國家以其連續的曆史文化身份和傳統為中心，與西方的全球文化主導地位形成鮮明對比。 

印度
主條目：大印度和印度文明
印度被認為是文明國家的一個例子，政治評論家認為印度的共同身份早於英國殖民和伊斯蘭入侵。

俄羅斯
另見：歐亞主義
弗拉基米爾·普京政府有時會接受將俄羅斯描繪成一個獨特的歐亞文明國家的言論。[2][4][16]

批評[編輯]
英國記者吉迪恩·拉赫曼 (Gideon Rachman) 在 2019 年的一篇文章中指出，文明國家的概念與普遍人權和共同民主標準的現代概念不一致，並且本質上是少數群體所獨有的，因為他們不具備定義文明國家的特征。 特定的文明國家（例如，他們可能有不同的宗教）。[2]

Civilization state

From Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_state#cite_note-xia2014-8?

A civilization state, or civilizational state,[1] is a country that aims to represent not just a historical territory, ethnolinguistic group, or body of governance, but a unique civilization in its own right.[2] It is distinguished from the concept of a nation state by describing a country's dominant sociopolitical modes as constituting a category larger than a single nation. When classifying states as civilization states, emphasis is often placed on a country's historical continuity and cultural unity across a large geographic region.

The term was first coined in the 1990s as a way to describe China,[3] but has also been used to describe nations such as Egypt, Russia, India, Turkey, and the United States.[2][4][5]

The term has been popularized by Bruno Maçães in a series of essays since 2018.[6]

China as a civilization state[edit]

The term "civilization-state" was first used by American political scientist Lucian Pye in 1990 to categorize China as having a distinct sociopolitical character, as opposed to viewing it as a nation state in the European model. The use of this new term implies that China was and still is an "empire state" with a unique political tradition and governmental structure, and its proponents asserted that the nation state model fails to properly describe the evolution of the Chinese state. Proponents of the label describe China as having a unique historical and cultural unity, derived from a continuous process of cultural syncretism.[7] The term was further popularized by its use in When China Rules the World by British political scientist Martin Jacques.[8][9]

According to Li Xing and Timothy M. Shaw, the central feature of analyzing China as a civilization state is the view that the Chinese state derives its legitimacy from the continuation of a sociopolitical order which posits that the state maintains natural authority over its subjects, and that it is the "guardian" of both its citizens and their society, a view of the state that is completely distinct from the Westphalian nation-state model.[7] Other scholars make the case that the key features of a civilization-state are the maintenance of an ethos of cultural unity despite displaying significant cultural diversity, across centuries of history and a large geographic space.[10] Some specifically draw attention to the longevity of the Chinese writing system,[11] or describe China's existence as being uniquely and inexorably tied to the past.[12][13]

Guang Xia pushes back on the idea of the uniqueness of a Chinese civilization-state. Xia argues that civilization-state discourse in China studies is an important and positive development, as it allows for characteristics of the modern Chinese state to be properly analyzed in the context of their history. However, Xia concludes that ultimately, all civilizations must reinvent themselves in the context of their history, and that it is a mistake to view China as a static entity or to portray it as being more tied to its past than the rest of the world.[8]

Other proposed civilization states[edit]

Egypt[edit]

By creating a civilizational continuation between ancient Egypt and contemporary Egypt with its Muslim characteristics, Egypt is another example of a civilization state that centers its continuous historical and cultural identity and tradition that contrast the West's global cultural dominance.[5]

India[edit]

Main articles: Greater India and Indian civilization

India has been proposed as an example of a civilization state, with political commentators arguing that a shared Indian identity predates British colonization and Islamic invasions.[9][2][14][15]

Russia[edit]

See also: Eurasianism

Vladimir Putin's administration has at times embraced the rhetoric of portraying Russia as a distinct Eurasian civilization-state.[2][4][16]

Criticism[edit]

British journalist Gideon Rachman argued in a 2019 article that the concept of a civilization state is at odds with modern conceptions of universal human rights and common democratic standards, and is inherently exclusive to minority groups who do not share the feature(s) that define a particular civilization state (for example, they may have a different religion).[2]