People and Places
Latin America and the Rest: Globalization and Modernity in Contemporary Latin America
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Cathy Marie Ouellette
Though frequently labeled “non-western” in debates over globalization, citizenship, cosmopolitanism, and other considerations of “modernity,” a reevaluation of Latin America’s current state suggests that it is deserving of an alternative label. The contemporary world has a cursory understanding of the constitution of these territories and the characteristics that bind them together, and Latin America remains peripheral to the Global South. The binary of “Latin America” versus the west or the rest continues to influence the economies and politics of said regions, unevenly positioning its policymaking and politics broadly, and even dampening the spirit of its populations. In a search for a broader comprehension of this region and its position in the world, this article seeks to re-evaluate the classification of the region as it relates to conceptualizations by the rest, while simultaneously redefining the position of Latin America with regards to globalization and modernity. This essay then clarifies the links between modern conceptualizations of the nation-state and its historicized understanding of globalization and citizenship.
Factors Contributing to Changes in Taiwanese Identity between 1992 and 2018
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ben Liu
This paper discusses the changes in Taiwanese identity between 1992 and 2018. Taiwanese identity has been heavily influenced by political factors. Over the decades, the decline of the Kuomintang (KMT) authoritarian political regime, which was a stronghold of the Chinese Nationalist school of thought and was responsible for promoting Chinese culture in Taiwan, coinciding with the rise of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP), which promoted a Taiwanese identity and contrasted the dynamics of Chinese and Taiwanese identities, allowed a distinction between a Taiwanese identity and a dual or Chinese identity to gradually enlarge. In addition to the impacts from dynamic of duopoly political power, this paper considers the influences from globalization that increased the inter-dependency between Taiwan and other countries, the impacts of changes of Global Logistic-Taiwan Direct Shipment mode of Information Technology production, and Patronism politics onto the changes of Taiwanese identity in recent years.
Globalization and Civilizationists in the Central and Eastern Europe
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Franciszek Czech
Many commentators would agree that Fukuyama’s optimistic vision of the end of history appeared to be naive in the confrontation with reality. Even if Fukuyama was misunderstood, as he explained away himself to his critics, many believe that after 9/11 it is obvious that we live in the harsh world of Huntingtonian clash of civilizations. Moreover, if anything has ended in the age of globalization it is rather geography than history. Thus separate civilizations and ways of life are as close to each other as never before. In such circumstances, new political movements emerge. Rogers Brubaker, in his article Between nationalism and civilizationism: the European populist moment in comparative perspective, provides us with an interesting analysis of a new populist tendency in the developed West, which seems to be an answer to above indicated conditions. Interestingly, in the Brubaker’s analysis of civilizationism one can find crucial ideas reminding the essentialism and reductionism of Huntington’s theory which draws from the paradigm of conflict theory. My paper has three goals. Firstly, I discuss critically Brubaker’s concept of civilizationism. Secondly, I deliver more detailed characteristics of civilizationist political movements by juxtaposing them with Huntington’s theoretical ideas. Thirdly, I go beyond Western Europe discussed by Brubaker and consider the specific features of civilizationist movements in Central and Eastern Europe by considering selected examples from Poland and other countries of the region.
No End of History of Refugees in Europe - Balance of Thirty Years: A Historical Approach
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Pawel Sekowski
The thesis of Francis Fukuyama about the "end of history" certainly did not take into account the impact of the refugee issue on post-Cold War history of the world, including Europe, individual European countries and structures of the European Community / European Union (EC/EU). The issue of refugees in Europe was at the center of political processes especially in the period of the European migration crisis, as a result of which, between 2015 and the first months of 2016, about 1.2 million refugees and migrants came to Europe. It should be also taken into acount the significant number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and asylum seekers from Ukraine. Today in Europe there is about 15% of all refugees, IDPs, asylum seekers and stateless persons - over 10.5 million people. This paper outlines the importance of the contemporary refugee history in Europe - since 1989 to the present day - for changes in European countries and in activities undertaken by the international community, especially the Office of the UNHCR. Particular attention is paid to the impact of refugee issue on the functioning of the EU as a source of the potential internal crisis of the Union as well as on the actions towards the creation of a common European policy on refugees.
