Civilization state 文明国家

文明国家
来自维基百科

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

文明国家或文明国家是一个不仅旨在代表历史领土、民族语言群体或治理机构，而且本身也代表独特文明的国家。它与民族国家的概念不同，它把一个国家的主导社会政治模式描述为构成一个比单一民族更大的范畴。 在将国家归类为文明国家时，通常强调一个国家在广大地理区域内的历史连续性和文化统一性。

该术语最初是在 20 世纪 90 年代创造的，用于描述中国[3]，但也被用来描述埃及、俄罗斯、印度、土耳其和美国等国家。

自 2018 年以来，Bruno Maçães 在一系列文章中普及了该术语。

中国作为一个文明国家

“文明国家”一词最早由美国政治学家卢西恩·派伊（Lucian Pye）于1990年使用，将中国归类为具有独特社会政治特征的中国，而不是按照欧洲模式将其视为民族国家。 这一新术语的使用意味着中国过去和现在仍然是一个具有独特政治传统和政府结构的“帝国国家”，其支持者声称民族国家模型无法正确描述中国国家的演变。 该标签的支持者将中国描述为具有独特的历史和文化统一性，源于持续的文化融合过程。 英国政治学家马丁·雅克（Martin Jacques）在《当中国统治世界》一书中使用了该术语，从而进一步普及。

根据李行和蒂莫西·M·肖的说法，将中国作为一个文明国家进行分析的核心特征是这样的观点：中国国家的合法性来自于社会政治秩序的延续，这种秩序假定国家对其臣民保持自然权威，并且 它是其公民及其社会的“守护者”，这种国家观与威斯特伐利亚民族国家模式完全不同。 [7] 其他学者认为，文明国家的关键特征是维持文化统一的精神，尽管在数百年的历史和广阔的地理空间中表现出显着的文化多样性。 有些人特别提请注意中文书写系统的悠久历史，或将中国的存在描述为与过去有着独特且不可分割的联系。

广夏反驳了中华文明国家独特性的观点。 夏认为，中国研究中的文明国家话语是一个重要而积极的发展，因为它使得现代中国国家的特征能够在其历史背景下得到正确的分析。 然而，夏的结论是，最终，所有文明都必须在其历史的背景下重塑自己，将中国视为一个静态实体或将其描绘成比世界其他国家更与其过去联系是错误的。

其他提议的文明国家

埃及
通过在古埃及和当代埃及之间创造具有穆斯林特征的文明延续，埃及成为文明国家的另一个例子，该国家以其连续的历史文化身份和传统为中心，与西方的全球文化主导地位形成鲜明对比。 

印度
主条目：大印度和印度文明
印度被认为是文明国家的一个例子，政治评论家认为印度的共同身份早于英国殖民和伊斯兰入侵。

俄罗斯
另见：欧亚主义
弗拉基米尔·普京政府有时会接受将俄罗斯描绘成一个独特的欧亚文明国家的言论。[2][4][16]

批评[编辑]
英国记者吉迪恩·拉赫曼 (Gideon Rachman) 在 2019 年的一篇文章中指出，文明国家的概念与普遍人权和共同民主标准的现代概念不一致，并且本质上是少数群体所独有的，因为他们不具备定义文明国家的特征。 特定的文明国家（例如，他们可能有不同的宗教）。[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]