The idea of civilization might seem perennial, yet it has undergone numerous conceptual changes
throughout history. The discovery of America in the 15 th century had a seismic effect on the
conception of civilization in the European mind that took full form in the 18 th century through the
philosophical histories of Enlightenment thinkers. These thinkers used the symbol of the New
World as a representative of the opposite of civilization: barbarism. A closer look at the
historical development of these concepts during the Enlightenment, and its afterlives in America,
reveals a more complicated story about their usage and their effects on the political imaginary
and political discourse; one that presents a challenge to their enduring appeal. Is it possible, then,
to re-think the ethical value of the concept of civilization? Should it be left behind as a
theoretical category altogether?

Nayeli L. Riano is a Ph.D. Candidate in political theory in the Department of Government at
Georgetown University. She holds degrees in intellectual history from the University of St
Andrews and English literature from the University of Pennsylvania. A literary essayist in her
free time, Nayeli published her first book Dwellings Far From Desperate Fields: Essays on
Faith, Memory, and Modernity in 2022.