Edward Said, "The Myth of the Clash of Civilizations" 1

[LeMondeM777]

Interesante lo expresado por Edward Said sobre el libro "Choque de Civilizaciones". Sería importante que este vídeo del profesor y otros en los que él interviene sean traducidos al español, para que los hispanos podamos entenderlos mejor. La confrontación no es entre culturas como señalaba Huntington, sino del hombre contra el hombre...

[gogorox93]

Relevance of King Crimson haha....?

Definitely not complaining though!!

[MYaseen90]

We lost one of the most important scholars of our time. How we miss you Dr. Edward Said! The world needs you so much right now.

[luislfmartini]

Edward W. Said point the real problem of imperialist attitudes. He didn't mensure his words to show how USA set its imperialist conscience up.

[freedomfighterone]

Huntington and Lewis work for the Illuminati criminals that are destroying our world. For years they have been trying to get World War III going between Christians and Muslims. Death and destruction of the human race is their only agenda. And with everybody dead, what kind of New World Order will that be?

[JohnnyRock2000]

There are cultures that work toward a clash between Islam and Judeo-Christianity. There is money and power to be made. These powers will help cause fear between the West and Islam and use words like Islamo Fascism. On the other side, these same powers will cause fear of the West in Muslims. Wars will begin and Israel will pretend to stay out of it, but really be at the controls.

[cirosuperiore]

said would have wished he could have given osama bin ladin his eulogy.

[cirosuperiore]

this enemy of america gave this bad lecture in 1996.

9/11/2001 proved this enemy of America wrong.

any westerner who follows people like said are either stupid, ignorant, self-hating or just plain fools.

said is a vicious thirdwoldist who would prefer the barbarians of third world, non-white societies destroy the West and Christendom, not to mention American democracy.

in fact this enemy aid and abates our adversaries.

[Chrotisofus]

@cirosuperiore Your comment ironically shows you yourself are the stupid, ignorant, self-hating fool, you might have missed out on that.

[cirosuperiore]

third worldist orgasms.

the self-loathing western man embraces its enemies unflinchingly.

the Stockholm syndrome played out on a national level.

sleeping with the enemies on a global scale.

[AmberSkyLane]

Bitch slap to Fukuyama. lol

[bademoxy]

bottom line is;mankind has no natural predators. the belief systems and cultures which cause/endorse overeproduction needs to be eliminated.we need societies which innovate and create .

true that the west is too wasteful of resources, but the planet has a limit on the shear numbers which can be sustained even on a subsistence level.

[sooperfukker]

Funny how all of us are suddenly living in this "myth" #FAIL

[MrILoveYeshua]

the main thesis of the book "orientalism" that edward had published claims that criticism of islam is racistic and fascistic behaviour. I believe he did that to silence the West in criticising islam, because he knew the time of clash between civilizaitons would come one day.

[rerevisionist]

@MrILoveYeshua - Very good theory. I find Said a puzzle, as I do Chomsky. It's arguable that Chomsky is humanitarian and honest - but only when Jewish interests aren't involved. Similarly, maybe Said is humanitarian and honest - but only when Muslims aren't affected.

[goknur1977]

Edward Said, a precious jewel. One of those people that you wish you had met in person...

[jagara1]

Wow King Crimson - respect!

[bebzelle]

people hate said cuz they mistakenly think he is pro-islam, which he is not. there is no way he would support any muslim rule over the west, he is right in lifting the veil of the west in how it studies the east...which is a great benefit for the west in its fight against islam...yes islam. so there is not clash of civilization but clash of morality. arab muslim morality does not sit well with with 5 billion infidels.

[verysmartmart]

He did this lecture... and then 9/11 happened...

[thetikkit]

an enlightening lecture....thank you Mr. Said, and thanks to mjerryson for putting it up!!

[0505BirdmanJr]

This lecture is out of date, Said's belief that there is no part of Islam which is fundamentally against the West is no longer viable post 9/11. Over the last decade we have seen numerous cowardly attacks on Western countries, most recently by a Swedish-Iraqi in Stockholm. Do not believe the idea that Muslim extremists are driven by a justifiable rage, but a culture and religion that runs counter to that of the West. Islam and Western cultures are inherently different, and thus we have conflict.

[victorwongvw]

@0505BirdmanJr Well... I think you should look at Said's opinion on the Iraq War before jumping into conclusions

[muimrm]

@0505BirdmanJr

shut up

[CytherLynx]

actually, the fact that he says 'end of history is the end of fukuama, really'

is a bit like a creationist saying, 'they eye ball, not designed, the end of evolution really"

... people need to be very careful not to be swept away by the retoric of people like this.

but don't avoid him either, read his works, but understand he is clearly giving a biased opinion.

[phooey108]

@CytherLynx

yes, a biased opinion, unlike Samuel Huntington and Francis Fukuyama.

[CytherLynx]

huntington's book is still a great book. this view is highly biased

[rostomation]

Those who Disliked the video are F*ckin Israelian for sure..

There is no one reason for Disliking this Guru.

[CytherLynx]

@rostomation yes, actually, there is... idiot

[muimrm]

I think Edward Said is stating the obvious. I don't understand how westerners really see muslims as completely different. Learn Arabic, go to an arabic country and get to know the people living there, then judge and say whatever you want.

Look at Dubai

look at nassers egypt

look at lebanon before the civil war

look at all the secular arab countries

Where THE HELL DO YOU SEE A CLASH OF ANYTHING!??!?

[1michelemichele1]

@muimrm It isn't obvious to a lot of people, unfortunately

[seekmeout1]

he is smart, he brings out simple stuff outside n displays it to people. so that they can understand.,

[dmokhtar]

He talks very condescendingly and aarogantly in my opinion.

[mjerryson]

Edward Said published his book on Orientalism in 1978. It would be frustrating to express some problems and see them being repeated again and again over 20 years.

[annaroseyallup89]

@dmokhtar No, he's providing academic critique to the scholars and theorists he mentions. Just as his books have provided a platform for intellectual discourse and academic conversation for decades. If people were passive and did not critique, challenge and respond to ideas, then disciplines like anthropology, literary criticism and history etc etc wouldn't exist.

[dmokhtar]

@annaroseyallup89

with much respect I don't see how your reply has to do with my comment. It is possible to critique and disagree with someone without having a condescending and aarogant tone. I simply didn't sense that from him.

Much blessing, Daniel

[cirosuperiore]

@dmokhtar that's because he is anti-White thirdworldist racist scumbag and does not deserve to teach in american university. i cannot believe that american taxpayers are paying this hater's salary.

[kafenwar]

@cirosuperiore Bullfuck.

[44warjunkie]

What is this self-loathing Westerner talking about. Radical groups like Al-Qaeda are fighting us over events that happened centuries ago. It has nothing to do with foreign policy and everything to do with history.

[muimrm]

@44warjunkie

brain washed fool

[MAldoseri]

@44warjunkie The question is, can you actually separate the making of present foregin policy from its historical context?

[TheNauded]

what song is playing at the start?

[visionrevision]

@TheNauded - The song at the beginning of the video is "Starless" by King Crimson, from the album "Red"

[bestTulips]

I appreciate Edward Said's courage to clarify the bias against non Muslims countries. Huntington's views suggest war and western domination of small non western entities. Huntington's views are heavily based on Bernard Lewis's Book "Islam and the West" where he compares religion not to a religion but to geographical political countries suggesting that Muslims and Arabs are Backward uncivilized people according to the western culture which is completely wrong. WE HAVE TO APPRECIATE EACH OTHER Cu

[bestTulips]

Huntington's book intensifies the conflict between the western countries and Islam. An Agenda to destroy more than to construct..

[Reqrezentin]

I see Samuel Huntington's theory coming to light. Muslims see this, others might not.

[Chrysdegrec]

Edward Said was an impressive scholar, certainly one of the best ever in America. I wrote a dissertation many years ago on “Orientalism”, a book with a breath of life very hard to find in other academic works. As of the “Clash of Civilization” thesis, it became very influential for reasons I don’t understand. It still makes no sense to me why people, for example, from Algeria and Saudi Arabia should be grouped together on the basis of their common religion.

[lodproductions90]

Rest in peace, great scholar! I made my first, short vid on the related "East-West dichotomy", please have a look and tell me what you think. Cheers.

[sptfgpn]

Lewis and Huntington were making some valid points by the sound of it.

[bobbygnosis]

"Foreign Affairs" - C.F.R. "Remaking of WORLD ORDER". You have to be blind not to see those.

[namenderkrieg]

Said's argument relies heavily on circular reasoning: it assumes that its central point is already proven, and uses this in support of itself. That is, Said assumes that SH's argument and research methods are flawed, which he cites as proof that... SH's argument and research methods are flawed. Said fails to provide empirical evidence for his critiques, instead preferring to churn out smug platitudes that appeal to his audience's emotions rather than their ability to reason logically.

[arzoyan]

Capitalism, Corporate or State dominated or In It together is the wage slavery of immense humanity for abstract process of Capital accumulation and concentration for the elite, 250 top corporations control over 1/3 of the world GDP. More than 3 billion workers are on 2 dollars a day. Capitalism is template of perpetual war,oppression,enviornmental destructions,animal cruelty and suffering, A dehumanising distorting minority imposition in thier inatiable drive for ever more Profit no matter what

[OneCarefulListener]

Dear Listeners, I'm requesting that you note the structure of Edward Said's argument. He quotes from the text he's addressing, Huntington's _The Clash of Civs_, then Said makes the key point that the notion of a "clash" with Islam is calculated to continue the Cold War (to promote U.S. domination); Huntington seems to have been hired by the arms manufacturers. Said shows how S.H. does not use research or knowledge of cultures to promote understanding. Said is the true public servant.

[0xFFF0]

Edward is the voice of hatred and anti-Semitism.

[mizzLebanese]

@0xFFF0 Funny you say that because he is purely Semitic :)

[QUINTUSMAXIMUS]

@0xFFF0 And you are the voice of tolerance, anti-racism and fight against racism against Arabs and other nationalities? I doubt it. Said was a socialist. He didn't care about religion or the gods of nationalism. He is a Semite. Said's ancestors descend from the ancient Jews who became Christian, the original Jews. Anti-Semite? His friends were Jews. Nice try..

[barito7]

Sam P Huntington has great vision whereas critics have been very short-termist in their analysis. There will be a cash of civilisations. Differences will be impossible to bridge due to dwindling resources driving time constraints and the western thought of individualism and freedom to be and consume.

[qxw667]

Civilizations dont clash; they live in harmony...

[Fantasycq2007]

as a Chinese，i really suspect the clash of civilizations。。。

[doNOTvoteCAMPAIGN]

Extremely interestign video. Thanks for sharing it. Smith ;)

[tubeyou182]

edward said is amazing

but why do his videos always start with weird music?

[willwak]

I took my shirt off in a public park one hot summers day and was stoned by a gang of Pakistanis who were walking about 30 meters away on a footpath whilst I lay on the grass to enjoy the sunshine. It was apparently ok in their mindset to do this in a land which they had come to without any invitation of the people of that land showing not the slightest shred of respect for the traditions and culture of that land.

So Said's middle class, gentile arguments fall rather deaf to my ear.

[willwak]

Whenever I hear an argument which is combative...one side is basically the aggressor and the other merely defensive...I always turn it on its head and ask if it is really true in light of facts.

So when Said states that the western world is basically imperialistic and the muslim world is the victim of it, I can't help but remember that Turkey was founded after an islamic attack on Christian Byzantium and that Spain was invaded by muslims centuries before the first crusade...continued.

[heresywar]

@willwak Oh, nice call. Except Turkey was founded in 1923.

[willwak]

@heresywar

Pedantry won't save you here mr. hereseywar.

The Turks from Central Asia who invaded Byzantium way way way before 1923 may have operated under the name Ottoman empire but they were foreign turkic invaderrs from the east who attacked repeatedly. And those same Turks occupied Serbia for 500 years too. A rat by any other name is still a rat.

Nice try but not good enough.

[heresywar]

@willwak Referring to the Ottoman empire as "Turkey" is almost as ignorant as calling 8th century Iberia "Spain".

[heresywar]

@willwak "turkic invaderrs from the east who attacked repeatedly" sounds like a GISM song - I'm lovin' it!

[willwak]

@heresywar

Well you can attempt to avoid the fact that I'm right and you're wrong by making light of it if you wish. But just to remind you: I'M RIGHT AND YOU ARE WRONG.

[heresywar]

@willwak I'm rubber, you're glue.

[heresywar]

@willwak What? That's a fact? *looks at calender* Oh, it's opposite day! Haha, my bad! *furiously pedals away on fixie while flipping you the bird*

[vionorino]

your words live inside us Doctor Edward!

[YolandaGuadalupe]

@vionorino

Thank you for this excellent share Vio !!

[420partyatmine]

he sounds as if has a chip on his shoulder rather than an analytical response. My lecturers would never shoot down huntington, rather promote discussion and cultivate alternative views.

Edward Said = butt hurt.

[andyx1205]

@420partyatmine dude he had leukemia and died of it.

[obaa101]

brilliant man.

[TennMan2020]

Said is a liar and deceiver. His agenda is quit plain.

[racistpastors]

3:85 Whoever seeks other than Islam as his religion, it will not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he will be with the losers Slay the idolators [non-Muslims] wherever ye find them, and take them captive, and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the last Day. Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah! (Sura 9:5,29,41).

[racistpastors]

@TennMan2020 Said is AGAINST western civilization and PRO JIHAD and so are HIS EVIL ASSHOLE BUDDIES IN ACADEMIA, THE LIBERAL MEDIA, and THE DEMOCRAT PARTY. so that explains where he is coming from.

[Challuayacu]

This might help understand Mr. Said's intransigent position and obvious anti-western ideas. Edward Wadie Saïd (pronounced /'edwərd wædiːʕ sæʕiːd/ Arabic: إدوارد وديع سعيد‎, Idwārd Wadīʿ Saʿīd; 1 November 1935 25 September 2003) was a Palestinian American literary theorist and advocate for Palestinian rights.

[alejandra379]

That does not mean he is anti-western. He was very critical about some of the ways western hegemonic thought has used to describe arab societies and to design political relations with this part of the world. And he was educated by british, on british-egyptian christian schools..

[bensorah]

@Challuayacu

you are so smart,

you know how to copy and paste from wikipedia.

amazing!.

[racistpastors]

@Challuayacu Islam exhorts all 1 billion of its followers to "slay the idolators", or KILL THE INFIDELS. yes this IS a clash of civilization versus bloody JIHAD. fuck Said. and jihad sympathizers.

[somehow45]

The late Said speaks truth. He is touching on the growing influence of those who advocate tensions and clashes, and subsequently benefit from this sort of contaminated atomoshere to prepare the people, particularly of the USA, to engage in war, such as the case now. The media has become nothing more than a blowing horn for such a paradigm of tension and hate.

[racistpastors]

@somehow45 America has not somehow just made up JIHAD out of thin air. Nor has The West just conjured up all the hundreds if not thousands of terrorist attacks by followers of Islam in the recent past. BLAMING THE WEST, BLAMING AMERICA for Islamic Terrorist Jihad WHICH IS CENTRAL TO THE KORAN and ISLAM is SIMPLY WRONG and STUPID. so go fuck yourself. asshole.

[mikewtp]

You're not too bright aren't you.

[theLoulou24]

thank u for posting this.

[Knight222able]

Islamic Civiliation is the best one Ever!!!!!!!!!!

[rahul1116]

How could u support ur argument,,,, may i know plzzz/

[Knight222able]

@rahul1116 it's just because I say so :P

[rahul1116]

That would be naive argument,And a closed eye veiw at the history.But i am sure ,it comforts you from the terrible truth , u dont want to hear or listen to.

Can you name one religion whose blood is not on the hands of muslim civilization.I am a hindu,80 million of my ancestors were chopped during the plunder of my rich nation.I can prove only if u want to see proof.

[Challuayacu]

How dare you be so sophomoric!

[XxOmniscienttxX]

bullshit

[ozzylaza]

he ridicules huntington and fukiyama quite strongly in this video. Ok fukiyama but huntingtons essay on clash of civilizations is sound in my opinion really

[theLoulou24]

fukiyama is in my opinion the darkest philospher ever. not a glimmer of hope in his readings

[GreatGrumbledook]

I'm afraid not, Said! Unfortunately, most of the sane people think that you're an utter prat! Ask them who they'd prefer to meet: Edward Said or the man, who cleans out the public toilets in Aberdeen, and they'd go for Wee Jock "Poo-Pong" McPlop every time.

[phmfthacim]

What is the music?

[ROTTIWORLD]

mushrooms,we are all a bunch of mushroom.(notice i said we).kept in the dark and fed shit.32000 hits.38comment.that is why we are were we are.we can't afford to loose any more good men like this.r.i.p.

[buttlord123]

@ROTTIWORLD have you been watching The Departed? that is a good line tho haha

[theLoulou24]

I think there are good men in the world, but we dont hear about them as much as the politics in academia appears less open to alternate ideas.

[greatsea]

One cannot deny that ideas can come into conflict. And one cannot deny that there is a clash in the west alone right now between secularism and religion. Nor can one deny that there is a conflict between secularism in the west and Islamic ideology in the Middle East. Why then is it so ridiculous to think that civilizations can clash? You'll have a hard time convincing my French friends who have seen this clash first hand in France.

[VozAlternativa]

Straless!!! The great King Crimson, Crimson-Said, nice combination, couldn't agree more with you.

[msabssa]

LOOOL@ "the end of Fukuyama really "~

[mjerryson]

Edward Said was a Christian Palestinian. Remember, some of the oldest Christian traditions come from the Middle East.... Please check your facts before you make ad hominen attacks.

[fenerbahce8811]

@mjerryson thanks for posting this:)

[3iun]

Edward Said is the voice of reason!

Allah y7fatho- God bless him.X

[LordPaynus]

I agree with Edward Said but does he have to be some god damned mean?

[cryoslave88]

His criticism is more on the fact that Huntingtons book is presented to policy makers in western governments, thus a keen danger exists when these governments take hold of the idea that conflict is inevitable and misunderstand that the extreme views in the islamic world are normative values, when they simply are not.

[GaiusIuliusTaberna]

Another totally biased anti American tirade from said. Its all a conspiracy theory, our policies are designed not to accomplish their stated goal but to support the military industrial complex. Only jihadists, flag burners, and NWO cultists would believe such nonsense.

I see no issue with any of our policies, only with the ways in which they were implemented. Furthermore it should be of great concern to the whole of the western world that our image is being slandered to sympathetic audiences.

[arijitrule]

Read Edward's work then speak. Huffington book is all about his views with hardly any evidence. US media including good bit of western intellectuals state party line of the west with exceptions like Noam, Edward etc..

[CanoPinto]

There is a clash of civilization, of course. USA need another enemy after URSS falls, and chose Islan. Their economy is warfare based, and without external menace they can not sell weapons...

[Ecothearcy]

they make stupid american in debt to buy weapons from their friends, aid to egypt and israel goes into sales from same people. its a distribution scheme from working people to transnational elites. Jordan, egypt, and morooco run torture campes for the cia, so theyre in on it.

[CanoPinto]

Of course they are, but only puppet and corrupt government, not the people. It is making fundamentalism and radicalism rise their influence among the people.

[goeuncr]

Hi!...is there any place where one can download these videos?

[FartheadOgre]

Yes, download the software called dvd video soft. There are also websites that you can input the link, but I find the software based downloads are faster and of a higher quality.

[Ajax151]

or theres also a firefox add-on called download helper that will do the same

[Rocketeer1001]

I suspect that if the line, "Islam has bloody boarders" was absent from the book, there'd be none of this hullaballoo from the likes of Said, Chomsky and others over the academic validity of Huntington's thesis.

[Ajax151]

i think you're right, it seems that even a purely academic work based on evidence that corrolates pretty well gets attacked just because it contains an inflammatory statement. this guy in the video trots out the same old tired conspiratorial accusations of "arms deals" and warmongers

[balut1102]

and i suspect that you haven't read Huntington's book. this phrase indeed appears in his books several times

[warhol20000]

This is a great video. Congratulations to mjerryson who posted it. Out of curiosity: did you choose the song at the beginning? "Starless and bible black" by King Crimson, one of my favourite songs ever!

[mjerryson]

Wish I could say that I did choose it, but no, I did not. It was part of the taping.

[avenuePad]

@warhol20000 Yeah, great choice for an opening song. My favourite Crimson era. :)

[manolis29]

name correction: the problem and scary thing with Huntington's theories is that an administration like bush's with the ignorance and ideology of Huntington can apply policies which in theory (their own theory) will validate "the clash of civilizations". many people still think that usa is fighting a cultural war. the government deals with terrorism as a cultural phenomenon, instead of a political one ("we fight for freedom"). no word about oil and military domination.

[Ajax151]

The possibility of misterpetation and exploition is troubling but should not stop thought and exploration on the subject. I believe Huntington wrote his book with a admirable academic and empirical outlook.

Just as Nietzsche was misinterpeted by Hitler there is of course the possibility of misinterpetation and exploitation, but this does not detract from what Nietzsche accomplished.

[manolis29]

i have to say you are right. everyone can be misinterpreted, but i really doubt the essence "of the clash of civilizations". you see, i come from greece (...talkin' about clashes..) and greece was the center of the first christian empire, the so called "byzantine empire" and it lasted for a thousand years (of course through some conflicts..) as portal between east and west, muslim and christians.

[manolis29]

The accusations of "arm deals" are not conspirational at all, we (the west) have been dominating middle east countries militarily since ..forever (alexander the great, napoleon, the british since 1914 etc etc) and we always invade in the name of civilization and freedom. democracy to the point of a gun is not a democracy and everyone knows it, it is murder.

[arijitrule]

See if read the book he hardly states the history. Yes there is a hatred, but a proper academic should look into the reasons. Unless he states the history of middle east starting from 19th century ( actually you can go back even further) he is just being a propagandist for the state. Always look for evidence before accepting anything at its face value.

[TheatetustheGreat]

Thank you! He is one of the greats!

[WineofWisdom]

There remains a lot more to elaborate, as to first defining what Civilization is, and how does the individual relate himself within the social context, and I may even disagree with this state opinion.

But why is this marked as spam?

Does differing with someone's opinion enough to mark that opinion as a spam?

[chiomauba]

Thanks for posting.

[Africanmistress29]

I wish I was one of his students. I know I'd never miss class...in fact, I'd sit somewhere in the front row and bring him an apple everyday :).

[Ecothearcy]

This is all bogus simulation of an argument. the liberal democrat obama is now about to invade paikstan in case u didnt notice. and his speech promissed escalation, and hes staying in iraq. remmember, al qaeda was set up and funded by the kufar corrupt gulf rulers in partnership with the colonizer uk and usa. they worked for 20 years for the cia-mi6, and through private financial channels. any reason to believe that funding channel is not operative? divide and conquer the muslims from their deen

[Totillytarian]

Yes, Obama said he would bomb Pakistan back in July 2007. It got hardly any coverage in the media, but I was in India at the time and it was in the papers.

I think he has since retracted it though. I hope so.

[Ecothearcy]

The US fired missiles into Pakistan shortly after the inauguration. That should please the Hindus.

[generalzeedot]

his presidency's already failed because of the following reasons:

GAZA

$900TRN bailout

and the expanding of the war into pakistan

[Ecothearcy]

wow I guess he lied. Geithner of the ny fed which doled out the first tarp took over seamlessly under obama. total criminal takeover when u figure in gulf emirates agent clinton as well.

[JeRuSaLeMrUs]

@Africanmistress29 Haha, WOW your comment made my day! I'd also be honored to bring him an apple everyday before class :)

[JeRuSaLeMrUs]

@Africanmistress29 Haha, WOW your comment made my day! I'd also be honored to bring him an apple everyday before class :)