Question

When people talk about clashing civilizations, as so many politicians and academics do now, they can sometimes miss the central issue. The inadequacy of this thesis begins well before we get to the question of whether civilizations must clash. The basic weakness of the theory lies in its program of categorizing people of the world according to a unique, allegedly commanding system of classification. This is problematic because civilizational categories are crude and inconsistent and also because there are other ways of seeing people (linked to politics, language, literature, class, occupation

Answer 1

According to Sen, what is the “basic weakness” underlying the idea that the world is composed of “clashing civilizations” (paragraph 1)? Identify the basic weakness and explain in specific detail, whether you agree or disagree, using ideas from Amartya Sen’s article in support.