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emergent capitalism, which has been consubstantial with subsuming colonialism, has transformed the meaning of the Pacific’s geography. Arif Dirlik is right to highlight the discourse of the ‘Rim’ (1997: 129–45). But the discourse is neither all-powerful, nor pervasive. The Pacific’s past is polycentric and its forms of memory embrace connected centres, a continuous mythology (both temporally and spatially), particular historicities and an unusual mode of inter-cultural engagement. For critical generalisation to be possible, an appreciation of this mode of engagement
(but see Smith, 2014c). This chapter completes the in-depth studies of Part II. I have fathomed particular examples of inter-civilisational engagement. My survey includes oceanic civilisations, the Oceanian civilisation, Latin American movements of political and cultural engagements and, finally, Japan’s exceptional encounter with the West and instances of political and cultural engagement that ensued. I have examined, to varying degrees in all cases, the four dimensions of inter- civilisational engagement to support my critical synthesis of the illuminating
its position south of the United States, yet vitally enriched by many traditions. The neglect of Latin America’s multi-civilisational history was not only the sin of Europeans. 156 156 Debating civilisations The post-revolutionary technocratic state in Mexico was fanatically positivist. Its investment in positivism left the state unreceptive to the many civilisational identities and influences that formed Mexico. His preference was cultural engagement. Reyes responded to the aftermath of the 1910 revolution with caution, asserting culture over violence and
23 Civilisations debated 23 across dimensions of migration, economic movements and connections, cultural engagement and the political reconstruction of civilisational models. Historical engagement entails dis-engagement also. The non-borrowings, dissonances and conflicts of civilisations are noted alongside cases of fragmentation and the collapse of large empires. The outline of inter-civilisational engagement in Chapter 4 is broad in scope. I pepper the argument with examples to illustrate key points. One aim of Debating Civilisations is to sketch an
cross-national/cultural engagement. For this reason, sport, among other cultural forms such as the visual and performing arts, has been championed in the White Paper and elsewhere as a promising domain of diplomacy (broadly defined as encompassing political, economic, social and cultural exchange in both formal and informal environments).34 The place of sport within Australian diplomacy of different kinds now requires more detailed exploration. Sport and diplomacy in Australia In seeking to capture an elusive concept there is a significant and growing body of