New Directions
Ecological Nationalism: A Pro-feminist Global Future Perspective
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Lejla Mušić
The debate over the changes in the climate system and greenhouse effect has reached its top during the transition from the modern to postmodern age. The authors argued that the ecological problems are more important than the national problems. Therefore the regionalization and formation of Unions formed in order to achieve better quality of life are necessary. Why should we accept the ecological nationalism idea? K. Sivaramakrishnan founded that ecological nationality represents the idea that is hard to be defined and his definition involves personal insight such as intersection of cosmopolitanism and nativism in devotion towards the nature. Barbara Adam, eminent sociologist developed the concept of global time, as time that involves web of people living in contemporary are to which the same ideas, news and inventions are transmitted at the same time. Globally, we can say that global time involves the society of contemporaries who share the same idea of the most important societal changes and inventions. Changes of climate are problems that had raised interest in all fields of human knowledge, biology, physics, sociology, philosophy, law, chemistry, politics, etc. Environmentalist nationalism represents superior form of nationalism that is based on bioregionalism and together with an idea of cosmopolitan democracy, offers an alternative perspective for global future societies.
Ethical Aspects of Current Socio-cultural Trends
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Aleksandr Bezgodov, Vadim Golubev, Konstantin Barezhev
Finding a way out of the systemic crisis of civilization, humanity needs a new "Copernican turn" in consciousness. The implementation of such a turn is hampered by the axiological chaos that necessitates denying biotic constants: life, nature, self-preservation, etc. This paper discusses a clash of the techno-economic trend of globalization and the opposite, politico-ideological trend of de-globalization. Recent social, cultural, and technological changes have created completely new conditions for human self-awareness and self-expression. The resulting values have been subjected to an unprecedented assault from the most primitive economic and social Darwinian concepts. It led to a new conservative revolution spreading not only in parts of Asia, Africa, and South America, but also in some European countries. This revolution manifests itself as a conflict between opposing types of social organization: an open society professing democratic liberalism vs. a traditionalist, closed society based on a conservative cultural, political, and economic paradigm. There are two parts to the main drama of the European world. On the one hand, people are no longer satisfied with the past ideals that brought Europe together, despite the fact that European culture is still based on them. On the other hand, Europe lacks a driver of significant spiritual changes, a great idea that would help Europeans keep intellectual pace with an approaching technological leap. The paper offers unifying planetary ethics that are based on the ideas of Vladimir Vernadsky, Nikolay Fedorov, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, and other Russian cosmists. It provides that big idea for the whole of humanity.
On Constructing Counter-Hegemonic Subjectivities at the Age of Global Neoliberal Governmentality: The Case of Candidatura d’Unitat Popular (Popular Unity Candidacy, CUP) in Catalonia
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Alvaro Malaina
From Wallerstein's (1974) “world-economy” concept to the more recent concept of “Empire” by Hardt and Negri (2000), social theory has conceived the present world as a system of neoliberal capitalist domination on a global scale, involving exploitation of man and nature by economic elites in connivance with political elites. The exploitation reaches nowadays alarming self-destructive extremes, expressed by climate change (N. Klein, 2014), normalization of job insecurity and “precariat” (G. Standing, 2011), policies of austerity (J. Stiglitz, 2002), while increasing social inequality as never before in human history (T. Piketty, 2014). More than an ideology or a policy, behind this form of domination of capitalism, there is a technology of production of subjectivity, the "homo economicus" that is self-governed by criteria of competitiveness and individual utility. Michel Foucault calls "neoliberal governmentality" this form of conduct in the global capitalist Empire. Global capitalist domination has met with resistance from global civil society in the form of alter-globalist movements. However, given that the action of individuals and groups is still largely local, we also find within states sociopolitical movements opposed to the global capitalist system. Recently, in Spain the Catalan independence movement has brought about an effervescence of anti-hegemonic social mobilizations, practices and ideals, beyond its claim for a referendum of self-determination for the region of Catalonia. We will present the rise within it of the left-wing political party Candidatura d’Unitat Popular (Popular Unity Candidacy, CUP) since 2012. CUP has been key at the parliamentary level in the momentum of the movement until the referendum of October 1, 2017, but also at the social and political level in order to endow it with a counter-hegemonic dimension, against the neoliberal political and economic elites. We will analyze its sociopolitical trajectory, taking into account its difficulties and contradictions. We will especially emphasize its creation of new forms of counter-hegemonic subjectivity based in municipalism, self-organization, assemblies and social activism, under ideals of anti-capitalism, feminism and ecology, and how they confront the individualistic logics of neoliberalism that suppose the rupture of social and ecological links.
Caught Between the U.S. and China: Panama and the New Globalization
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Carlos Guevara Mann
In 2017, Panama, a country well situated within the U.S. sphere of influence for nearly 170 years, broke with Taiwan and established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. This much publicized event included the signing of numerous agreements between China and Panama providing a broad framework for increased commerce, investment, tourism, and technical cooperation. What does this development imply for U.S. hegemony in the Western Hemisphere? Does it indicate a loss of U.S. influence in the region? This paper addresses the connection of this occurrence with trends toward global repositioning and realignments showing growing multipolarity.
