Just Finished Reading: In Search of Civilisation – Remaking a Tarnished Idea by John Armstrong (FP: 2009)

What exactly is Civilisation? This is the deceptively simple question the author asks at the beginning of this intriguing and thought provoking little book (a mere 195 pages long). Is it something as practical and as material as somewhere you can get a tire changed after a roadside puncture or where you can get decent broadband speeds? Or is it something more than advanced technology and 24 hour supermarkets or where you can get pizza delivered to your door at 3am? 

Some think of civilisation as the rule of law, a place where you can feel safe in your bed and don’t feel the need to carry arms or band together for protection against other bands of like-minded individuals. Is it a place where the State can be assumed to look after your basic interests and at the same time leave you alone to flourish on your own terms – a place where you are protected against potential encroachment on your basic freedoms and are given further freedom to grow? Or is it still more than this?

Is civilisation a place where individuals or groups are given the time, space and encouragement to create objects or works that have no practical value but are appreciated for other things – what we call art, music, literature or simply 'the arts'? Is civilisation a place the produces decorative pottery, grand architecture, opera, poetry, paintings that cause their viewers to weep or shout in outrage? Is civilisation the kind of place that produces Wagner, Picasso, Bach, T S Eliot and Jules Verne? Could a civilisation be defined by the number, variety and output of its artists?

But what of the citizens in this civilisation, whatever we chose to mean by that word? Are civilised citizens the kind of people who consume art like tins of soup, who value art or great works of literature for their resale value or the kudos their ownership brings them? Or is being civilised something more than that? Is it appreciating art and literature for what it is rather than what it costs? Is it actually striving to understand the work in question, taking the time, effort and education to truly see the object in front of them in all its glory rather than be impressed by technique or simple effort? Or is it just elitist to build opera houses and art galleries to exhibit the works often designated as classic or world class? Is this idea of civilisation another way to oppress and denigrate the rest of us while a small self-selecting self-defining elite drink their wine in front of paintings that the majority would not give a second glance to?

These are some of the important questions raised and addressed in this frankly fascinating and thought provoking work. Armstrong argues, and I largely agree with him, that civilisation has for far too long been side-lined and demonised as something we have either grown out of – like a childish illusion – or that we have realised was just another way for the rich to look down on and distinguish themselves from the poor and ignorant masses – in other words an elitist idea held by those who viewed themselves as our betters. Although culture has been used like this – as a weapon and a wedge – this is not, the author argues – what civilisation is. Civilisation is the best part of us, not something locked away in darkened rooms for the delight of a few but something that should be on display to uplift, enlighten and amaze us all. Civilisation is something that everyone should be involved in, an ongoing project of societal improvement and education which is far from elitist. An appreciation of Beethoven or Shelly is something that can all have. An enjoyment of Shakespeare is nothing to be ashamed of and equally nothing to be superior about. Shakespeare, like civilisation itself, is for everyone. We just need to recognise that fact to keep civilisation civilised.