Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 11, 2025

A Re-Evaluation of the Myth of “European Miracle” and the Construction of “Western Civilization”

(Abstract)

Chen Heng

“The West” and “Western Civilization” are dynamically constructed concepts with rational and historical validity. Yet when extended to notions such as the “European Miracle,” which claim that the West’s advantages are the inevitable outcome of historical progression since Ancient Greece and that the West constitutes the center of human progress, such assertions embody ignorance and arrogance. This Eurocentric, linear historical perspective obscures the diversity, richness, equality, and agency of human civilizations, making it impossible to present an objective and comprehensive world history. American geographer James Blaut’s concept of the “European tunnel of time” critiques traditional Western narratives that divide history into an inner Western core and an outer Eastern periphery, portraying non-Western development as an inferior Other awaiting “civilization.” In confronting the myth of the “European Miracle,” both Western scholars engaged in self-reflection and intellectuals from Asia, Africa, and Latin America have sought to reclaim the right to narrate history. UNESCO’s initiative to write a shared human history, based on the principle of serving all humanity, offers another significant path toward de-Westocentrism. Historical materialism, moreover, provides essential intellectual guidance for redrawing the evolutionary map of world civilizations.