Especially since the end of the Cold War, the concept of civilization has been frequently deployed by those who seek to describe and explain the world in which we live. The events of 11 September 2001, and the subsequent war on terror, have further elevated the concept's use in the discourse of politics and international relations. There has, for instance, been feverish speculation and increasingly heated rhetoric about struggles for civilization or a possible clash of civilizations, particularly between the West and the Islamic world. The term is used both to describe and to cast...