I've always found the definition of "civilization" a bit self serving. In particular, the "hierarchical" part. I find it interesting that the rule of the few over the many is baked into a particularly important concept.
Well that feels more like it's the side-effect of the English word "civilized" being used to mean "genteel and proper", and also "pertaining to large-scale societies with monumental architecture, agriculture, etc." It doesn't seem to controversial that social hierarchies are associated with all of the world civilizations we know about - I suppose that could lead to arguments about them being intrinsically better, or just necessary to organize large groups of people?