Sociology Commons^™

Editor's Note, Joseph Drew Editor-In-Chief

Comparative Civilizations Review

Although the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations was formally launched in 1961 via a scholarly conference convened in Salzburg, Austria, which brought together many of the world’s leading experts on the subject under the sponsorship of the Austrian government and UNESCO, regular annual meetings for those interested in comparative civilizations have been held subsequently by the society variously in North America, South America, Asia or Europe almost every year since that time.

Former Iscsc President Wayne Bledsoe: An Appreciation, Michael Palencia-Roth

Comparative Civilizations Review

About three weeks before Wayne Bledsoe died on the 2nd of June 2024, at 83, my wife Elaine and I commented to each other that we simply had to get in touch with him and Deb again, for too much time had passed since we had seen each other. We did not know that he was ill, and so the news of his death surprised and distressed us.

Cognosis And The Evolution Of Civilization, Ken Baskin

Comparative Civilizations Review

From the time when the complex states such as Egypt or Sumer emerged roughly 5,000 years ago, the civilizations they represent have generally become more populous, more socially varied, wealthier, and more technologically advanced. As a result, the innovations they produced would begin to change the conditions in which they existed, and their cultures have had to evolve to adapt to this ongoing change. For instance, the cultures of Bronze Age Egypt and the Iron Age Han Dynasty had to be quite different, even though both were agricultural societies. And, of course, the Electronic Age cultures of the United States …

Is Donald Trump A Modern-Day Catiline?, Jamie González-Ocaña

Comparative Civilizations Review

Could the story of a failed Roman politician who organized a plot to seize the Roman republic in 63 BCE be a metaphor for Donald Trump’s political persona — his initial presidential run against the establishment, his rhetorical effort to overthrow the status quo and the natural order of things in national politics, the love affair Trump has always had with the struggling working-class voters (with the “forgotten” Americans), his constant testing the Constitutional limits of our republican system of government? Could both figures be symptoms of times when a republic is in crisis and reminders of the perils that …

Niccolò Longobardo And The Early Modern Encounter Of Europe With China, Yu Liu

Comparative Civilizations Review

Writing in 1962 about the founding fathers of the early modern Jesuit China mission, Jesuit historian George H. Dunne famously called them the generation of giants “who, breaking with the dominant spirit of their times and recalling a distant past, restored the concept of cultural adaptation to a central position in the world mission of Christianity.”

Seventeen Crises In Western Civilization That Have Arisen Since The Dark Ages: A Cognition Science-Oriented Approach, Andrew Targowski

Comparative Civilizations Review

The purpose of this article is to synthesize those crises in the unfolding of Western civilization that are controlled by human knowledge and wisdom. The methodology is transdisciplinary, utilizing a cognitive science-oriented, big-picture view of civilization and main conflicts. The crises are investigated across three time periods; the Dark Ages (from the fifth to the fourteenth century), Modern Times (from the fifteenth to the twentieth century), and the present century. The findings reveal that today Western civilization faces seventeen significant crises. Knowledge is not sufficient to solve these crises; we need to employ knowledge-based wisdom. This approach presents a new …

What Lessons Can Be Learned From The United Nations Preventive Deployment Mission In North Macedonia, On The Border Of Two Civilizations: Nothing Fails Like Success?, Mary Frances Lebamoff

Comparative Civilizations Review

Preventive deployment as a conflict prevention tool has not recurred in the past several decades, despite the broadly acclaimed success of the United Nations Preventive Deployment in Macedonia, UNPREDEP 1995-1999, and of its predecessor missions, UNPROFOR/Macedonia, and UNPROFOR/M 1992-1995.

The United Nations in particular has continued with mainly first- and second-generation peacekeeping, peacemaking and peacebuilding actions even on civilizational borders. What may best explain why there has been no other engagement in preventive deployment missions? There has been much emphasis placed formally and informally on early warning, detection, mitigation, and prevention of conflict. There have also been increasing numbers of …

Book Review: Liberalism, Realism, Or … Integralism? Perusing John J. Mearsheimer’S Book The Great Delusion, Vlad Alalykin-Izvekov

Comparative Civilizations Review

The paper presents an analysis of the scholarly views of prominent American political scholar John J. Mearsheimer as set forth in his book The Great Delusion (Yale University Press, 2019). It also offers analysis of other existing approaches, as well as elaborates on a new Integralistic Paradigm which has a potential to integrate the field of International Relations (IR) Theory.

End Matter

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Books Of Interest, Stephen T. Satkiewicz

Comparative Civilizations Review

The journal is adding this section since there are books that may be of interest to scholars of the comparative study of civilizations and that may add significantly to the body of scholarship in the civilizational field. The books listed below are also available to be reviewed in the Book Review section of future editions of Comparative Civilizations Review.

Book Review: The Americans: The Democratic Experience And The Creators, Robert Bedeski

Comparative Civilizations Review

Two classics by American historian Daniel Boorstin should be central in the analysis of civilization.

Civilizations From Toynbee To Coker: The Quest Of Christopher Coker (1953 – 2023) To Reinstate Comparative Civilizational Thinking In Western Scholarship, Greg Lewicki Vice President

Comparative Civilizations Review

In the gentlemen’s heaven, Christopher Coker must surely have his separate suite, one with golden busts of travelers, old-fashioned English furniture, and cold-toned walls resembling those of Athenaeum, a Pall Mall club in London, one of a few clubs where he liked to dine.

The Sociology Of Crisis: Pitirim Sorokin’S Scholarly Legacy And Current Problems, Resilience, And Community, Emiliana Mangone

Comparative Civilizations Review

In his writings on crises, Sorokin highlighted their complexity and their multiple consequences on a personal, cultural, and social level. In this paper, crises in the 21st century are analyzed from Sorokin’s incisive perspective. The significant points include:

1. the study of crises cannot be enclosed within the confines of individual disciplines but rather must incorporate interdisciplinary approaches.
2. the category “crisis” does not encompass only those conditions that are the consequences of specific disastrous events such as natural disasters, wars, and terrorism but also all those phenomena that produce the conjunction of harm to human beings and social disturbances.
3. successive crises …

Front Matter

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Divergence Between The Teachings And Practice Of Islam: A Civilizational Analysis Of Muslims In Indonesia, Hisanori Kato

Comparative Civilizations Review

Indonesia is a country of cultural as well as religious diversity. Even before the advent of Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism were widespread in the region. Some think that Islam in Indonesia spread to the archipelago through interaction with local civilizations. Although Islam has become a majority religion in Indonesia today, long-standing local cultural traditions, ones that have existed throughout its recorded history, are often still maintained and practiced widely in Indonesia. These pre-Islamic traditions have a profound association with nature, and the people tend to appreciate animistic entities.

The Geographic Clash Of Civilizations?, Mojtaba Sadeghi

Comparative Civilizations Review

The Geographic Clash of Civilizations represents a significant geographic-civilizational reality and process, a phenomenon that has occurred and is expected to unfold increasingly in the third millennium. Understanding, analyzing, and forecasting this phenomenon relies solely on the geographic conceptualization of civilization. Through that perspective, the world is undergoing another instance of the geographic clash of civilizations, a clash more profound than the Clash of Civilizations, impacting the survival or collapse of human civilizations. The geographic clash of civilizations epitomizes an inescapable conflict between the soul (das-man) and the body (no-da-sein) of a civilization, stemming from …

Book Review: Arabia Felix: From The Time Of The Queen Of Sheba (Eighth Century B.C. To The First Century A. D.), Tseggai Isaac

Comparative Civilizations Review

Arabia Felix is a book about Sheba, “modern Yemen” with added highlights on the broader region of Arabia. The author gives an in-depth analysis on how Arabia captured the attention of ancient empires. Arabia also conducted rich trade with her contemporary civilizations such as the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Persians who “encountered caravans of aromatic products coming from South Arabia.”

The Dravidian And Āryan Migrations In Europe And India, Alexander Jacob

Comparative Civilizations Review

Much has been written about the relationship between the Indo-Āryans and the Dravidians. Debates have proliferated on the question of whether the Āryans invaded Dravidian India or whether they were indigenous to Dravida. If we consider the literary evidence of the ancient Indians we can inform a different view of the origins of Indian Brāhmanical religion and the historical relationship between the two major population groupings of India.

Book Review: Why War?, Stephen T. Satkiewicz

Comparative Civilizations Review

Pay any attention to current events and it seems that war and conflict are everywhere: from the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, to the eruption of conflict in the Middle East in October 2023, to on-going geopolitical tensions in the Pacific over the status of Taiwan. It was only a decade or so ago that many were confidently predicting not only the decline but the outright end of war, as Steven Pinker boldly argued in his The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.

Full Issue

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

How Belief In God Impacts Marital Conflict And Resolution For Women Of Faith, Elizabeth Kay Madsen

Theses and Dissertations

Frequent conflict is a significant relationship risk factor for divorce, but it has also been shown that religion strengthens marriages, specifically in ways that give direction and motivation for couples in resolving marital conflict or other marital hardships. Thus, a study of how successful religious couples resolve conflict is pertinent in helping us better understand how to strengthen marriages and families. Our qualitative study of 113 highly religious women of diverse faiths and races found that women's perceived relationship or connection with God reportedly impacted conflict resolution and coping with marital hardship. Results suggest greater reconciliation and unity with the …

Exploring The Intergenerational Links Between Parent And Child Couple Conflict Styles: Attachment Behaviors And Forgiveness As Moderators, Ashley Forbush

Theses and Dissertations

Conflict is a fundamental element of couple relationships, and the styles of conflict partners use can either enhance or undermine couples' relationship satisfaction and stability. Previous research has found clear links between parent and adult children's conflict strategies, but little is known about how adult children can change their conflict approach from what they observed in their family of origin, especially when they come from homes with dysfunctional forms of conflict. To better understand what factors help children change their style of conflict, the current study used data from 1,077 married couples from the CREATE study. Multinomial logit regression was …

Exploring How Caregiver Multiracial Socialization Is Related To Multiracial Identity Pride, Self-Esteem, And Racial Political Identity In Emerging Adulthood, Jennie Jasperson

Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined how caregiver multiracial socialization processes play a role in multiracial emerging adults' multiracial identity pride self-esteem, and racial political identity. The constructs of caregiver multiracial socialization, multiracial identity pride in emerging adulthood, sense of self-esteem in emerging adulthood, and racial political identity in emerging adulthood were examined among 387 multiracial emerging adults between the ages of 18-29 from across the United States. To examine these relationships, multiple regressions were run to analyze data. The results of this study underscore the significance of understanding the role that socialization processes within multiracial families play in ethnic racial identity …

Defensiveness And Accountability In Couple Relationships: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Analysis, Collin Joshua Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Defensiveness is empirically well documented as a factor in breakup and divorce which have wide ranging consequences for adults and affected children, however, little research exists on what Gottman has called the antidote to defensiveness which is taking an accurate amount of accountability. The purpose of this study was to use qualitative methods to illuminate the microprocesses which take place between partners in interactions regarding accountability and defensiveness. The data was taken from part of a larger project on healthy and unhealthy relationships where semi-structured interviews were conducted from a diverse sample recruited through convenience and theoretical sampling. Constructivist grounded …

Chronic Stress And Well-Being: Testing Mindfulness As A Proposed Method To Decrease Stress In Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Madeline M. Gillies

Theses and Dissertations

Parenting is a demanding role that encompasses many responsibilities and challenges. When a child is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, there are additional demands on the parent's time, energy, and financial resources, which likely leads to increased levels of chronic stress for parents. This dissertation examines the differences in chronic stress levels between parents who have children with autism and parents who do not, using hair cortisol concentration (HCC) as a benchmark. This dissertation also explores reducing parental stress by introducing a mindfulness intervention. Participants (n = 68) were recruited and divided into two groups: Parents of children who have …

Consent Behavior, Beliefs In Action: Longitudinal Associations Between Parenting And Adolescent Consent Beliefs And Behaviors, Corinne Archibald

Theses and Dissertations

More research is needed to consider how individual beliefs and socialization agents (i.e., parents) throughout adolescence inform consent-related sexual behaviors. Thus, the current study used an ecological systems approach to the theory of reasoned action (TRA) to examine how parents' consent beliefs were related to adolescents' internal and external consent behaviors, via their beliefs about the importance of consent. Having used longitudinal, nationally sampled data from the Healthy Sexuality Project, this study ran SEM path analysis models on 386 caregiver(s) and adolescents. Results found mothers' and fathers' consent beliefs were positively associated with adolescents' consent beliefs a year later and …

Raising Hope: A Preliminary Investigation Of Hope-Strengthening Parenting, Anna Sellers Calley

Theses and Dissertations

Hope Theory defines hope as a cognitive-motivational process of seeking and obtaining goals through agency thinking and pathway building, with substantive connection to many desirable outcomes. While hope is theorized to begin developing early in life, this assumption has never been empirically investigated. This is due to limitations in established hope measurement. There is an additional gap in the research surrounding the role of parents in the development of hope. In this study, I address each of these gaps by utilizing a novel measure of hope in early childhood and running a multiple linear regression model to investigate potential connections …

The Negative Impacts Of Parentification On Adolescents: A Systematic Review, Reilly Reid Hawkins

Theses and Dissertations

While child abuse, maltreatment, and neglect are clear examples of the most maladaptive types of parent-child interactions (Borchet et al., 2022), there is considerable evidence for the damaging nature of parentification in terms of youth outcomes and parental/familial dysfunction. The research literature contains numerous studies related to parentification, but there is little research overtly demonstrating the systemic effects of parentification (Peris et al., 2008). It is imperative that researchers and clinicians learn more about the mechanisms involved in the parentification process. Therefore, this systematic review analyzed the research literature centered on both parentification and adolescent populations. This study assessed various …

Sex Influences Of Age Of Onset And Duration Of Illness On Patterns Of Cortical Thickness In Individuals With Schizophrenia, Rachael Olivia Slate

Theses and Dissertations

Given that the manifestation of schizophrenia varies by sex, it is hypothesized that the interaction between diagnosis and sex significantly influences brain structure and is believed to be a crucial factor in understanding the neurobiology of schizophrenia. While much is known about cortical thickness mapping of the condition, there is currently no work that has assessed how changes to the cortical mantle relate to important clinical features of schizophrenia that vary by sex, such as age of illness onset (AOO) or duration of illness (DOI). This study utilized a sex-wise approach to examining cortical thickness alterations in men and women …

Chilled Classrooms: Educator Identity And Responses To "Divisive Issues"-Related Challenges To Professionalism, Hannah Katherine Dixon Everett

Theses and Dissertations

Recently, the United States has seen a notable increase in controversy and legislation regarding "divisive" concepts and issues in education. These divisive issues include Critical Race Theory, Social Emotional Learning, book censorship, and other race and gender topics. Legislation and media coverage regarding these issues contributes to a larger trend of challenges to teacher professionalism. I build on recent literature exploring how educators experience divisive issues legislation, putting these experiences in conversation with educator identity formation and the development of a professional sense of self. I interviewed 18 secondary school teachers throughout Utah's Wasatch Front to explore (1) how teachers …