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Alexander
N. Chumakov |
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Metaphysics of
globalization: |
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Cultural and civilizational
context |
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Methodological preamble
1. On specifying terms
2.
On methods and principles of research
Chapter I. historical process categorized as “culture”,
“civilization” and “globalization”
1.
Social
development as a subject matter of a theoretical study
2.
The holism
of historical process: philosophical aspect
3.
Systemic
approach to understanding social processes
4.
Global
evolutionism
5.
Unity and
interdependence of «culture»,
«civilization» and «globalization»
6.
Synthetic
vision of history
Chapter II. culture
as a phenomenon and method of describing social reality
1.
Culture as
a general characteristics of society
2.
Etymology
of the term “culture”
3.
The idea
of culture: in search of meaning
4.
The universal and unique features of culture
5.
The basic
functions of culture
6.
Statics
and dynamics of the cultural complex
7.
Bearers
and fundamental components of culture
8.
The nature
of cultural diversity
9.
Spiritual
and material aspects of culture
10. Mass and elite cultures as products of globalization
11. Dialog and conflict of cultures in the global
world
12. Globalization of culture
13. The phenomenon of universal culture
14. Value and ethical components of the global world
15. Historical process in the context of culture
16. Culture as a method of reflecting and understanding
social reality
Chapter III. civilization
as a phenomenon and method of describing social ties
1. Civilization as a general characteristics of society
2. Etymology of the term
3. Meaning and evolution of the term «civilization»
4.
Civilizations systematized
5. Civilization as a form or external frame of culture
6. Civilizational unity of countries and peoples of the
world
7. Historical types of civilizational development
8. Local and regional civilizations
9. From local and regional civilizations to the global
one
10. The emergence of the global civilization
11. The global civilization as reality
12. Historical process in the context of civilizational
development
Chapter IV. Cultural and
civilizational systems
1.
Culture
and civilization in their unity and diversity
2.
Genesis of
cultural and civilizational ties
3.
Cultural
and civilizational systems
4.
Ecumenes
as regional manifestation of the unity of culture and civilization
5.
Cultural
and civilizational conglomerates
6.
Historical
types of cultural and civilizational systems
7.
Universal
unity of the world community
8.
Cultural
and civilizational dimension of the modern world
Chapter V. globalization of Cultural and civilizational
systems
2.
Dynamics of globalization
3.
Fundamental principles of natural sciences applied to society
4.
The formation of a new reality.
5.
Cultural
and civilizational systems in the context of globalization
6.
Metasystem «culture – civilization – globalization».
7.
On the way to the global society (instead of the Conclusion)
Sources
Index
Summary
Contents
Metaphysics of globalization:
Cultural and civilizational context
___________
The
monograph is an important part of the general globalization theory that
continues a fundamental study initiated by the author in his book
“Globalization: the contour of the holistic world”[1][1].
While
in the first book globalization is represented as a self-sufficient and
objective historical process, progressing in accordance with its own patterns
and the logic of local, regional and global social changes, now it appears to
be one of the most important characteristics of the world sociosystem allowing
to understand this system in its dynamics taking into consideration
transformation of its inner contents (culture) and changes of its forms
(civilization).
Culture,
civilization and globalization analyzed as tightly connected and fundamental
characteristics of various social systems and world community as a whole are in
the center of the study.
The book, written in exciting and understandable
manner clearly demonstrates how thanks to objective reasons global problems of
modernity have penetrated economic, political and spiritual life of various
nations and how their cultural and civilizational development has become part
of the spiraling multiaspect globalization.
Step by step the reader may see the
logic and certain consequence of historic events when civilizational ties that
engender separated focuses of civilization emerge and enhance as a
result of progressive development and perfection of culture. Finally,
civilizational development had led to globalization that, in its turn,
gave birth to the global problems of modernity in the second half of the
20th century.
Using systemic approach to
understanding social processes and leaning upon the newest scientific and philosophical
achievements in this sphere, the author concludes that a linear and plane world
in the 20th century has been finally replaced with a
multi-dimensional world.
The world understood this way is
represented as a complex fractal, consisting of separated cultural and
civilizational systems where relations between culture and civilization are
defined by such principles as subsidiarity and uncertainty. From this viewpoint
culture and civilization are thought to be an inseparable unity when something
related to culture can be at the same time analyzed as related to civilization,
and vice versa. At the same time, attempts to define culture more precisely
make the definition of civilization less clear; clearer definition of
civilization makes the definition of civilization less precise.
The approach to understanding
cultural and civilizational systems suggested in the book allows to study
separated societies and humanity as a whole not only in one or two dimensions,
as within contemporary cultural or civilizational approach, but
“multi-dimensionally” – in three planes at the same time: from the viewpoint of
culture, civilization and globalization.
The author demonstrates that the
tightest connection of mutually defining terms “culture”, “civilization” and
“globalization” (and, what is more important, of those phenomena that exist
behind them) is still not enough recognized and researched. In this volume the
issues in question are focused on while interdependence and mutual support of
culture, civilization and globalization are being formulated as a research
problem to be resolved.
The author stresses that not only at
the level of everyday thinking, but among professionals more and more people
regret that globalization has destructive impact on culture, ruins its
traditional forms, “levels”, “depersonalizes” or even “wipes out” its
originality and specific features.
At the same time, “civilization”
understood mostly as “Western”, “technogenic” civilization is often proclaimed
to be the one to blame for globalization and it-engendered problems. It is
blamed for excessive dynamism and aggression, soulless mechanism and
expansionist aspirations, environmental degradation and, last but not least,
unification of values and destruction of “human nature”. In the other words,
civilization is thought to have destructive and demonic nature and to be the
engine of destructive forces of globalization. Culture, in its turn, is seen as
something passive, a phenomenon, threatened by globalization and forcefully
changed by it through destruction of cultural basics.
Culture, civilization and globalization are usually analyzed as separated, self-sufficient phenomena, being mostly in a situation of serious contradiction and confrontation, which need to be removed through building obstacles in the way of “soulless technogenic civilization” and fighting globalization mercilessly.
The
volume emphasizes that such, according to the author’s opinion, mistaken
positions ground many popular and non-constructive neo-Russoist claims, such as
“to protect nature”, “to preserve culture”, “to change the type of
civilizational development”, “to restrain globalization”, “to resolve global
problems finally”, etc. This philosophical platform becomes the basis for isolationism
and non-cosmopolitism, for straight-out struggle to protect “national
interests”, for mass protest movements, such as “antiglobalists”,
“alterglobalists” and so on.
The author
suggests that one of the reasons for this is the fact that absolute majority of
people consider modern world to be linear and plain. But by the end of the last
century it has finally become non-linear and multi-dimensional. Nevertheless,
we try to understand, to explain, to describe this new, changed world using
customary but old-fashioned terms and ideas.
The
author specially stresses that the volume is not a special study in cultural or
civilizational history. It does not aim at building a new system of
periodization or a scheme of historical process in the context of globalization,
as it may look like. Its central purpose is to combine in the framework of a
single approach towards history and modernity three components or, in the other
words, three dimensions: culture, civilization and globalization. These
terms have emerged long ago and are actively used by social sciences but
separately; they still are not taken as a whole in one context, inseparably,
holistically, according to subsidiarity principle. The time for such approach
has come because cultural and civilizational approaches have nearly lost their
heuristic value and are now in a vicious circle of finding new ways of being
applied to understanding social processes.
The
thought that people will sooner or later have to change their vision of the
world if they want to cope with global problems they encounter is the leitmotif
of the book. Our idea of the world should change in accordance with the changes
of the world itself. For example, as a result of the “Copernican turn” our
ideas regarding the position of our planet in outer space have changed. Now
global studies face a necessity to have a new look at the apparently unshakable
prepositions and to rethink some established concepts typical for both everyday
and research language but being already backward and non-adequate to the
rapidly changing modern world.
The
book tackles many philosophical, humanitarian, historic problems and will be
useful for researchers and specialists, providing valuable and topical
information for teachers and students. It will also attract attention of the
general reader interested in world problems of modernity and the future of
globalization.
Website: www.globalistika.ru
Email: chumakov@logic.ru
[1][1]
Alexander N. Chumakov. Globalization: outline of the holistic world –