Showing good manners and refined behavior, or describing a society with developed culture, laws, and organization.
From Old French 'civiliser,' derived from Latin 'civilis' (relating to citizens), from 'civis' (citizen or city dweller). The suffix '-ize' means 'to make,' so 'civilize' means 'to make citizen-like' or 'to refine.' The term carried colonial assumptions about which cultures were 'civilized.'
The word 'civilized' has a troubling history—European colonizers used it to justify controlling 'uncivilized' peoples, even though the colonized peoples often had rich cultures, sophisticated laws, and complex societies. This word literally helped justify colonialism! Modern historians try to avoid it because it wrongly implies some societies are more advanced than others.
Carries colonial/racial bias from 19th-20th century anthropology and imperialism, used to rank societies hierarchically. Often implicitly gendered—'civilized' standards enforced assimilation on women across colonized cultures.
Use 'developed,' 'complex,' 'structured,' or describe specific institutions/practices instead of judging entire societies.
["developed","complex","structured","established"]
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