IIS Alumni Newsletter 2015

Material Culture’s Role in Dispelling
the ‘Clash of Civilisations’ Theory
Aleem Karmali
Reflections & Reviews
8
Critiquing the ‘Clash of Civilisations’ Theory
Samuel Huntington’s well-known ‘Clash of Civilisations’
theory posits that there is a fundamental divide between what
he called ‘Islamic’ civilisation and ‘Western’ civilisation,
and that this divide is marked by insurmountable cultural
differences. Summarising the interaction of these societies
through the course of history and surmising about the
future prospects, he said that, ‘Conflict along the fault line
between Western and Islamic civilizations has been going
on for 1,300 years . . . This centuries-old military interaction
between the West and Islam is unlikely to decline.’¹
Huntington’s argument details a history of conflict, ignoring
the more dynamic, positive and creative interactions that
have taken place over the centuries. The implication is
that civilisations are like billiard balls, solid objects that
simply bounce off one another when they interact. This
perspective is founded upon a view of civilisations as being
monolithic, without any internal diversity, and a belief
that when two civilisations come into contact, it invariably
results in violence. Many have critiqued Huntington,
including Edward Said, who argued that civilisations are
not ‘shut-down, sealed-off entities that have been purged
of the myriad currents and countercurrents that animate
human history, and that over centuries have made it possible
for that history not only to contain wars of religion and
imperial conquest but also to be one of exchange, crossfertilization
and sharing.’²
Material Culture as an Educational Tool
Material culture, such as art, artefacts and
architecture, can help to counter such rigid views
of civilisations. In their very substance, these
objects contain evidence of the interactive nature
of cultural interchange, including the borrowing
of intellectual, technical and artistic approaches.
Many museums’ mandates thus include using
material culture to educate the public about
other cultures and societies. For example, the
aim of the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto is to
contribute ‘to a better understanding of Islamic
civilisations – and especially of the plurality
within Islam and of Islam’s relationship to other
traditions . . . [T]he Museum will help address
what is not so much a clash of civilisations, as it
is a clash of ignorances.’³
Exploring Three Museum Objects: An
Illustration
To illustrate how objects of material culture,
particularly historic artwork and artefacts from
across the Muslim world, are able to challenge
the ‘Clash of Civilisations’ thesis in a practical
manner, it would be useful to examine three
specific objects in the Aga Khan Museum’s
collection.