Stephen Feuchtwang is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of several books on China, including The Imperial Metaphor (1991) and After the Event (2011).

1. Civilisation: a critical and constructive review; 2. Civilisation in this book; 3. Long-term traditions of food, substance and sacrifice: interpreting cultures of ingestion in West, South and East Asia; 4. Neolithicities: from Africa to Eurasia and beyond; 5. Ancestors, civilisation and hierarchy; some comparisons from Africa; 6. Civilisation in China; 7. Civilisation and the government of 'civilisation' in contemporary China; 8. Conclusion.