Summer 2020

HIS 102: Introduction to World Civilization

Department of History and Philosophy
North South University

LECTURE 3:
DEFINITION AND APPROACHES TO STUDY THE
HISTORY OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION
DR. KAZI MARUFUL ISLAM
kazi.islam07@northsouth.edu
9 July 2020
§ Definition of civilization
§ Subjectivity and bias in defining civilization
§ Elements and Characteristics of civilization
§ Methods and Approaches to Study History
§ Civilization is any complex society characterized
by urban development, social stratification, a form of
government and symbolic systems of communication
such as writing
§ Civilization is a form of human culture in which many
people live in urban centers, have mastered the art of
smelting metals, and have developed a method of writing.
§ A civilization is a complex human society that may have
certain characteristics of cultural and technological
development.
§ https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/civ
ilizations/
§European Supremacy
§Colonial Legitimacy
§Racial Supremacy
§Male Supremacy
§ Active complex societal organism charaterized by
society, culture, religion, infrastructure living in a
larger time and space
§ For last 8000 years, 29 civliations evolved across the
world
§ Societal Dimension: Organization into a society
through the development of servies and division of
labor
§ Cultural Dimension: Development of human
communication, shared values and system of meaning
§ Infrastructre Dimension: evolution through of intra
and inter civilization issues like war and peace,
transport, technology and means of domination and
production
§ Historians, anthropologists, and other scholars have
identified several core characteristics of civilization.
§ Some of the most commonly suggested characteristics
include urban centers, agricultural manipulation and storage,
irrigation, written language, standards of measurements,
craftsmanship technology, social stratification, state
government, a common religion and/or ideological outlook,
and a shared culture.
§ Some has also suggested that military technology, system
of taxation or tribute, education system, monumental
architecture
§ The term is derived from Greek word “historia”
means “knowledge acquired through inquiry or
investigation”
§ History is the study of the past as it is described in written
documents.
§ Events occurring before written record are considered
prehistory.
§ It is an umbrella term that relates to past events as well as
the memory, discovery, collection, organization,
presentation, and interpretation of information about these
events.
§ History is the study of change and development in
society over time. The study of history enables us to
understand how past human action affects the present
and influences our future, and it allows us to evaluate
these effects.
§ History is about learning how to think about the past,
which affects the present, in a disciplined way.
§ History is a process of enquiry.
§ Therefore, it is about asking questions of the past:
§ What happened?
§ When did it happen?
§ Why did it happen then?
§ What were the short-term and long-term results?
§ It involves thinking critically about the stories people
tell us about the past, as well as the stories that we
tell ourselves
§ HISTORIOGRAPHY: history of history/methods
of writing history
§ Let’s us have a better understanding of history
§ Not only get to learn historical facts, but also
provided with the understanding of the facts’
and historian’s contexts
§ History is a distinctive and well-established academic
discipline with its own methods and discourses.
§ Its field of study is potentially limitless, in that it
encompasses the totality of past human experience.
§ Among scholars who study history there can be differences
and even controversy between some who regard it as an
account of an actual past, and others who view it as an
entirely imagined or constructed past.
§ POSITIVISM
§ emerged between 18th and 19th century
§ It requires empirical and observable evidence
before one can claim that a particular knowledge
is true
§ entails an objectives mean of arriving at a
conclusion
§ Positivist historians are expected to be objective
and impartial not just in their arguments but also
on their conduct of historical research
§ CONSTRUCTIVISM
§ historical knowledge could be seen from a
constructivist epistemology
§ They argue that the discipline of history as embodying
multiple and sometimes competing narratives of the
past.
§ It is essentially a constructed past through subjective
interpretation for specific purpose(s)
§ POSTCOLONIALISM
§ Emerged in early 20th century when formerly
colonized nations grapples with the idea of creating
their identities and understanding their societies
against the shadows of their colonial past
§ Looks at 2 things in writing history:
§ (1) To tell history of their nation that will highlight their
identity free from that of colonial discourse and
knowledge
§ (2) To criticize the methods, effects and idea of
colonialism
§ Postcolonial history therefore a reaction and an
alternative to the colonial history that colonial powers
created and taught to their subjects
§ They not only seek historical evidences and facts but also
§ interpret these facts to give meaning to these facts and
§ organize them into a timeline
§ establish causes
§ Historians need to be considered as a person who is
influenced by his own context, environment, ideology,
education
§ His/her is interpretation of the historical fact is affected by
his context and circumstances
§ his subjective intention inevitably influences the
process of his historical research: the methodology he
will use, the facts he shall select and deem relevant, his
interpretation and the form of his writings
§ Compromises certain techniques and rules that historians
follow in order to properly utilize sources and historical
evidences in writing history
§ Certain rules apply in cases of conflicting accounts in
different sources, and on how to properly treat eyewitness
accounts and oral sources as valid historical evidence
§ HISTORICAL SOURCES
§ Primary sources: sources produced at the same time as the
event, period, or subject being studied.
§ Eyewitness accounts of convention delegates and their memoirs
are used as primary sources
§ Archival documents, artifacts, memorabilia, letters, census, and
government records
§ Secondary sources: sources that are produced by an author
who used primary sources to produce the material are
secondary historical sources, which studied a certain
historical subject