DOCSLIB.ORG

Global Capitalism and the Demice of the Left

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Global Capitalism and the Demice of the Left global capitalism and the demise of the left: renewing radicalism through inclusive democracy edited by steve best ISSN 1753-240X A PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OF INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY A quarterly journal published by the International Network for Inclusive Democracy Vol. 5, No. 1, special issue winter 2009 iv This IJID publication is an English translation of the book with the same title published in Athens in 2008 (Koukkida) ISBN 978- 960-98038-5-4 Copyright (C) reserved for the International Journal of Inclusive Democracy, 2009. We welcome requests for translations and/or printed publications into any language (except Greek), which will not be charged for “copyright law rights” provided that we are informed about them in advance and the source is fully mentioned. v Contents the authors...........................................................1 INTRODUCTION Crisis Culture and the Waning of Revolutionary Politics steven best ......................................................... 11 Our Aims international network for inclusive democracy ......... 41 PART I GROWTH, MARKET, SOCIETY AND DEMOCRACY Market and Society takis nikolopoulos ............................................... 49 The Market Economy and the Biological Crisis dr. panayotis koumentakis ..................................... 53 Towards a New Vision for Global Society rafael spósito ..................................................... 77 vi Social Movements, Conflicts and a Perspective of Inclusive Democracy in Argentina guido galafassi ................................................... 91 PART II INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY AND THE LEFT Inclusive Democracy and its Prospects david freeman .................................................... 105 Beyond Social Democracy? arran gare ........................................................ 129 Can Democracy Solve All Problems? serge latouche ................................................... 155 Inclusive Democracy and Left Libertarianism michael levin .................................................... 165 Recent Theoretical Developments on the Inclusive Democracy Project takis fotopoulos ................................................ 189 vii PART III EDUCATION AND DEMOCRACY The Democratic Paideia Project: Beginnings of an Emancipatory Paideia for Today david gabbard and karen anijar appleton .................315 Education, Paideia and Democracy: Experiences of the U.S. Educational System john sargis ........................................................331 DIALOGUE-EPILOGUE Is Inclusive Democracy Feasible and Desirable? takis fotopoulos .................................................373 APPENDICES Democracia Incluyente jorge camil ........................................................457 Vers Une Démocratie Générale? jean-claude richard ............................................461 THE AUTHORS Steven Best (editor) is Associate Professor and Chair of Philosophy at the University of Texas, El Paso. He is a mem- ber of the International Advisory Board of The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy. He is the co-author with Douglas Kellner of Postmodern Theory: Critical Interrogations, The Postmodern Turn, and The Postmodern Adventure, as well as The Politics of Historical Vision. He recently published (to- gether with Anthony J. Nocella II) the books: Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? Reflections on the Liberation of Animals, and Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth. Karen Anijar Appleton is an Associate Professor of Curriculum and Cultural Studies at Arizona State University. She is the co-editor of the Journal of Public Resistance (with David Gabbard). Her most recent books include Culture and the Condom (edited by Thuy Dao-Jensen –Lang 2005). Science Fiction Curriculum, Cyborg Teachers, and Youth Cultures (edited by John Weaver and Toby Daspit –Lang 2003), and Teaching towards the twenty forth century the so- cial curriculum of Star Trek (Taylor and Francis 2001). Takis Fotopoulos is a political philosopher, editor of Society & Nature/Democracy and Nature/The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy. He is also a columnist for the Athens Daily Eleftherotypia. He was previously (1969–1989) Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of North London. 2 He is the author of Towards An Inclusive Democracy (London & New York: Cassell, 1997) which has been translated into French, German, Spanish, Italian, Greek and very recently Chinese. He is also the author of numerous books in Greek on development, the Gulf War, the neo-liberal consensus, the New World Order, the drug culture, the New Order in the Balkans, the new irrationalism, globalisation and the Left, the war against ‘terrorism’, Chomsky and Albert, and the present multi-dimensional crisis. He is also the author of over 700 articles in British, American and Greek theoreti- cal journals, magazines and newspapers, several of which have been translated into over twenty languages (see http:// www.inclusivedemocracy.org/fotopoulos/). His latest book is The Multidimensional Crisis and Inclusive Democracy, published by the International Journal of Inclusive Democracy, (2005) http://www.inclusivedemocracy.org/journal/ss/ss.htm. David Freeman works in the School of Social Sciences, La Trobe University, Australia. He frequently writes in Thesis Eleven. His research interests include empirical and con- ceptual developments in citizenship, democracy, social inclusion and the public sphere. David Gabbard is a professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at East Carolina University’s College of Education. He has authored or edited five books in the areas of critical education policy studies and the his- tory of educational thought. He is a member of International THE AUTHORS 3 Advisory Board of The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy. His most recent books include Michel Foucault & Power Today: International Multidisciplinary Studies on the History of Our Present, (edited with Alain Beaulieu), (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2005); Defending Public Schools, Vol. I: Education Under the Security State (edited with E. Wayne Ross), (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2004); Education As Enforcement: The Militarization and Corporatization of Schools, (New York: Routledge, 2003); and Knowledge & Power in the Global Economy: Politics and the Rhetoric of School Reform, (Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Publishing, 2000). Guido Galafassi is teaching Social Theory at the University of Quilmes, Argentina, and works as a researcher at CONICET (National Council of Scientific and Techniques Research). He is the co-ordinator of an International Research Network on Development, Nature and Society, and the editor of Theomai Journal, Society, Nature and Development Studies. He is also member of the International Advisory Board of The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy and Problemas del Desarrollo. He has published numerous articles and two books (in Spanish) on the ecological and social problems in Latin America and on Social Theory. He is currently deepening his critique of the social and eco- nomic thought in a book on the ideas of progress,nature and social movements in modernity. 4 Arran Gare is the author of a number of books on en- vironmental philosophy, including Postmodernism and the Environmental Crisis, (London: Routledge, 1995) and Nihilism Inc.: Environmental Destruction and the Metaphysics of Sustainability”, (Sydney: Eco-Logical Press, 1996). His research focuses on the problem of how to transform cul- ture to create a radically new, environmentally sustain- able, social order. He has published widely on Bogdanov, Needham, the metaphysical foundations of the sciences, the tradition of process philosophy, complexity theory, human ecology, the emergent theory of mind, social and cultural theory and political philosophy. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy. At present he is Reader in Philosophy and Cultural Inquiry, Swinburne University, Australia. Dr. P. Koumentakis is a natural nutritional doctor, member of the Board of the «International Association of Hygienic Physicians» (USA). He has studied Political Sciences in Athens and Natural Nutritional Medicine in Seattle (USA). He took his practical training in a health school clinic in San Antonio, Texas. He is the author of many books on health issues, nutrition, nutritional therapy and preven- tion. For the last ten years he has also been the editor of the bi-montlhy journal Health for All published in Athens. He is also a member of the Editorial Committee of The THE AUTHORS 5 International Journal of Inclusive Democracy and of the Greek journal Inclusive Democracy. Serge Latouche is Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Paris–Sud (XI Sceaux/Orsay). He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the journals Ecologia politica (Rome), L’homme et la société (Paris), la Revue du MAUSS (Paris) and Democracy and Nature/The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy. He is the author of many books and articles some of which have been translated into foreign languages: Justice sans limites. Le défi de l’éthique dans une économie mondialisée, (Fayard, 2003); La déraison de la raison économique, (Albin Michel, 2001); La planète uniforme, (Climats, 2000); L’autre Afrique. Entre don et marche, (Paris: Albin Michel, 1998); Les dangers du marche planétaire, (Presses de sciences po, 1997); La mega- machine, (La Découverte, 1995); La Planète des Naufrages, (La Découverte, 1991);
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Ecological Crisis As Part of the Present Multi-Dimensional Crisis and Inclusive Democracy - TAKIS FOTOPOULOS
    The Ecological Crisis as Part of the Present Multi-dimensional Crisis and Inclusive Democracy - TAKIS FOTOPOULOS The International Journal of INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY, Vol. 3, No. 3 (July 2007) The Ecological Crisis as Part of the Present Multi-dimensional Crisis and Inclusive Democracy * TAKIS FOTOPOULOS The aims of this article are the following: a. To examine the rapidly deteriorating ecological crisis and the myths about it, as well as to assess the main approaches to deal with it, including the Inclusive Democracy approach. b. To consider the other dimensions of the present multi-dimensional crisis and show the inter-relationships between them. c. To discuss ways in which we may move from the present crisis society to a new society. 1. The rapidly deteriorating ecological crisis: the myths about it and the main approaches to deal with it There is no doubt today that a major dimension of the present multidimensional crisis, which extends to the economic, political, cultural and general social level, is the ecological crisis, namely the crisis which concerns not the relations between social individuals, as the other dimensions of the crisis, but our interaction, as social individuals, with the environment. The upsetting of ecological systems, the widespread pollution, the threat to renewable resources, as well as the running out of non-renewable resources and, in general, the rapid downgrading of the environment and the quality of life have made the ecological implications of economic growth manifestly apparent in the past 30 years. Furthermore, it has now been established beyond any doubt that the ecological crisis and particularly the greenhouse effect ―as well as the consequent climate change― which is the most important manifestation of this crisis, worsens daily.
    [Show full text]
  • Inclusive Democracy and Participatory Economics TAKIS FOTOPOULOS
    DEMOCRACY & NATURE: The International Journal of INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY, Vol. 9, No. 3 (November 2003) Inclusive Democracy and Participatory Economics TAKIS FOTOPOULOS Although Michael Albert is well aware of the existence of the Inclusive Democracy (ID) project, still, in his new book Parecon (Par) 1 he prefers to ignore its existence and follows the trouble-free path to compare Parecon with the disastrous central planning system and the narrowly ecological Bioregionalism, or with social ecology which, in fact, offers no mechanism at all for the allocation of resources as it is based on a post-scarcity moral economy. However, even if may be a good tactics to demonstrate the “superiority” of a proposal by avoiding the dialogue with alternative viable proposals, 2 it certainly does not help the advancement of the discussion, urgently needed today, on alternative proposals of social organisation. It is therefore the aim of this paper to fill this gap and compare and contrast the ID project with Parecon, which I consider to be the main systematic proposals of an alternative economy recently advanced, so that readers could make their own minds about the pros and cons of each project. I will begin with a discussion of the general nature of the two proposals and I will continue with the main characteristics of Parecon, which I will then discuss in detail in the rest of the paper, comparing them with the corresponding characteristics of the ID project. Main elements of the two proposals The nature of Parecon and the ID project At the outset, it has to be made clear that Parecon, unlike the ID project, is not a political project about an alternative society.
    [Show full text]
  • Democracy and Inclusivity: a Reflection from the 2019 Bali Civil Society and Media Forum
    Democracy and Inclusivity: A Reflection from the 2019 Bali Civil Society and Media Forum Editor Dinna Prapto Raharja, Ph.D Democracy and Inclusivity: A Reflection from the 2019 Bali Civil Society and Media Forum Editor Dinna Prapto Raharja, Ph.D Democracy and Inclusivity: A Reflection from the 2019 Bali Civil Society and Media Forum Editor Dinna Prapto Raharja, Ph.D Published by: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Kantor Perwakilan Indonesia Jalan Kemang Selatan II No. 2 A | Jakarta 12730 Telepon : +62-21-7193711 Fax : +62-21-71791358 Email : [email protected] Website: www.fes.or.id ISBN 978-602-8866-27-9 Oktober 2020 Reproduction of this work in any form whatsoever, including photocopies whitout the written permission of the publishers, is prohibited Not for Sale Contents Foreword from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung [p. 6] Foreword from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia [p. 9] Acronym and Abbreviation [p. 12] CHAPTER ONE Social Inclusion in Today’s Democracies Dinna Prapto Raharja [p. 15] CHAPTER TWO Trust and Confidence in Democracy Syahredzan Johan [p. 29] CHAPTER THREE Exclusivity and Democracy in Decline in Southeast Asia Naruemon Thabchumpon [p. 41] CHAPTER FOUR Beyond Numbers, Ensuring Inclusivity in a Growingly Exclusive Democratic Realm Sylvia Yazid and Mireille Marcia Karman [p. 51] CHAPTER FIVE Democracy, Capitalism and The New Media Andina Dwifatma [p. 63] CHAPTER SIX Hoax, Polarization, and Democracy: a Civil Society Perspective Anita Ashvini Wahid [p. 73] CHAPTER SEVEN Way Forward Dinna Prapto Raharja [p. 83] Profile of Writers [p. 90] Democracy and Inclusivity: A Reflection from the 2019 Bali Civil Society and Media Forum Foreword from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Indonesia Office (FES) felt pleased when the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (KEMLU) invited FES for the second time to become a co- organizer of the »Bali Democracy Media and Civil Society Forum (BCSMF)«, which was held again as a parallel and integral part of the Bali Democracy Forum (BDF).
    [Show full text]
  • Takis Fotopoulos[1]
    Social Ecology, Eco- Communitarianism and Inclusive Democracy Takis Fotopoulos[1] Social Ecology and Inclusive Democracy John Clark’s critique of the politics of social ecology has no direct bearing on the Inclusive Democracy project ―only to the extent that the latter constitutes a synthesis of, among other traditions, some elements of libertarian municipalism. Readers of this journal are, anyway, well aware of the fact that the project of inclusive democracy represents a synthesis as well as a transcendence of the two major historical traditions, the socialist and the democratic ones, as well as of the radical currents in the new social movements (the open in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com feminist and particularly the ecological, of which social ecology is the most important radical component). Therefore, John Clark’s exclusive reliance on Murray Bookchin’s work on democracy in order to carry out an outright attack against direct democracy, ignoring, in the process, the work of Castoriadis and of this journal on the matter, seems —superficially at least— to be bizarre. However, this significant omission could easily be explained if one notes that what is from Clark’s viewpoint ‘one of the greatest strengths of Bookchin's politics’, is also, from a democratic perspective, the greatest weakness of this politics. Thus, according to Clark: One of the greatest strengths of Bookchin's politics is its grounding in ethics and the philosophy of nature (...) For Bookchin, politics is ultimately grounded in the process of evolutionary unfolding and self- realisation that has been taking place over the natural and social history of this planet.
    [Show full text]
  • The Inclusive Democracy Project: a Rejoinder - TAKIS FOTOPOULOS
    The Inclusive Democracy project: A rejoinder - TAKIS FOTOPOULOS The International Journal of INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY, Vol. 1, No. 3 (May 2005) The Inclusive Democracy project: A rejoinder TAKIS FOTOPOULOS I would like first to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all the contributors taking part in this special issue. It is indeed through the development of a comprehensive dialogue on the crucial issues that the Inclusive Democracy (ID) project raises that we could meaningfully assess its merits and possible weaknesses. In the lines that will follow the intention is not to engage in any kind of polemic against any of the distinguished contributors but simply to give alternative explanations, from the ID perspective, to the reservations, or even criticisms, raised against it. I hope that the bona fide spirit within which this debate takes place will be recognized by everybody and the fruitful dialogue developed here will function as a catalyst for its further expansion in the future. I hope that most in the radical Left would agree today on the need for the expansion of such a dialogue on the contours of a future society at a moment when many —particularly within the anti-globalization movement— assert that ‘another world is possible’ without even taking the trouble to define this world . But, if this movement is not capable of giving at least the contours of such an alternative world (and this is the objective of the ID project) then it is bound to register in popular memory as simply a protest movement and not as a liberatory movement —the kind of movement we need today to move forward towards a new society.
    [Show full text]
  • Raw Politics
    RAW POLITICS Politics without the State Terry Eyssens This thesis is submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. School of Behavioural and Social Sciences and Humanities. University of Ballarat PO Box 663 University Drive, Mount Helen Ballarat, Victoria 3353 Australia Submitted in January 2011 ABSTRACT This thesis begins with the contemporary political situation, where the extent of political thought and activity has been largely reduced to repetitive discussion about how established liberal representative systems of governments should best function. In this situation, where the State and its institutions have a monopoly on politics, there is almost no scope for the consideration of other modes of political thought and activity – in particular, the possibility of politics without the State. The argument is framed by two different responses to this situation. Firstly, many political philosophers (such as Richard Rorty) argue that the monopoly is here to stay, that western liberal democracy is as good as it gets, and that the best we can do is attempt to improve the system by alleviating the occurrences of injustice that remain. On the other hand (and in their own ways) Cornelius Castoriadis and Michel Foucault argue that current political thought is fundamentally obsolete and incongruous with our present and call for a shift away from our reliance on traditional forms of political organisation. As such, they call for us to „invent new modes of being together‟ and „new schemas of politicisation‟. In response to Rorty‟s provocation and to the calls of Foucault and Castoriadis, the thesis firstly examines traditional anarchist theorisations of „politics without the state‟ and finds them to be as contained by the State and its founding concepts as the political liberalism of our present.
    [Show full text]
  • Communicative Semiotics in Everyday Life (Cultural Criticism – the Image in the 21St Century)
    Communicative Semiotics in Everyday Life (Cultural Criticism – the image in the 21st century) A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English School of Arts Brunel University June 2014 DALEL FIDOUH This thesis is dedicated with the deepest love and everlasting respect to my parents. ii Abstract What am I seeing? What does it mean? This thesis addresses the transformations in cultural life in the 21st century due to the cultural dominance of the image, which resulted from the radical change and enormous progress in the media, communication and the development of information systems in the world. All this has led to changes in the intellectual structure, and an increased tendency to drift in all areas, and the emergence of a society and a culture governed by the culture of shock. The fundamental issue concerning the image is an epistemological issue, as we cannot distinguish between the visual image and the semantic product. We live in a world surrounded with stunning and spectacular visual images. We are overloaded with images from all types in our everyday life. We probably see images more than we read words. This thesis provides an analytical framework for understanding how images produce meanings using the semiotic approach. Semiotics is the most important approach that can be used to analyze all types of images. Semiotic analysis addresses images as signs which communicate meaning. The symbols used in signs are often culturally specific. This thesis indicates the focus of the receiver to adapt to this visual cultural situation, to be able to grasp the content of the new cultural discourse as it is present in all the details of the receiver’s daily life.
    [Show full text]
  • Inclusive Democracy in Europe
    INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY IN EUROPE Edited by Kristen Jeffers CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE 2011 EUDO DISSEMINATION CONFERENCE ON INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY IN EUROPE & THE EUDO ONLINE FORUM DEBATE ON NATIONAL VOTING RIGHTS FOR EU CITIZENS RESIDING IN OTHER MEMBER STATES This eBook has been published by the European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European Union Democracy Observatory - EUDO This eBook includes revised papers which were initially presented at the Conference “2011 EUDO Dissemination Conference: Inclusive Democracy in Europe”, co-funded by the Lifelong Learning Programme, EACEA decision no. 2011-2845/001-001 © European University Institute 2012 Editorial matter and selection © Kristen Jeffers Chapters © authors individually Cover image © European Parliament The European Union Democracy Observatory (EUDO, www.eudo.eu ) is an independent and interdisci- plinary organisation fully-integrated within the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS) at the European University Institute. Its declared goals are: to translate scientific and academic research on the key issues of European democracy into policy relevant and publicly-understandable outputs, to produce a permanent and periodic evaluation of democratic practices within the EU and to develop practical suggestions for improving democratic performance in the EU. EUDO wants to serve as a forum where research results, experiences, ideas, and good practices can be exchanged between scholars and policy-makers. The mission of EUDO is above all to gather documentation and data, to provide basic and applied research reports for EU institutions, and to foster dialogue between policy-makers, academ- ics and EU citizens. Via dei Roccettini, 9 I-50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) – Italy E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.eudo.eu The European Commission supports the EUI through the European Union budget.
    [Show full text]
  • Importing to the Core with Respect for the Poor: a Not-For-Profit Co-Operative Model for Breaking the Global Division of Labour
    Importing to the Core with Respect for the Poor: A Not-For-Profit Co-operative Model for Breaking the Global Division of Labour Sofia Gradin University of Bristol © Sofia Gradin School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies University of Bristol Working Paper No. 05-11 Sofia Gradin has an MSc in International Development from the University of Bristol (2010) where she was awarded the faculty’s prize for academic excellence in politics. This paper was originally her MSc dissertation. Her research focuses on co-operatives, global value chains and patriarchal gender norms. She has been active in the anti-capitalist co-operative movement in Europe for ten years. Abstract1 How do we begin to understand how we – as people in Britain – can import products from the global South in a way that is morally good? This project starts by establishing a view of what ‘good’ means and which values and standards world trading practices can be judged by. Taking stock of academic debates about what is wrong with current importing practices, the two main problematics that emerge are free market capitalism, and (following as a consequence from the former but deserving special attention) the exploitative global division of labour. The main concern of the project is to present a model for how importing from poorer areas can be done in a way that is mutually beneficial and egalitarian. Using examples of existing organisations and movements, most notably Radical Routes (the British network for anti-capitalist co-operatives), I discuss the ways in which they can avoid and counteract the capitalist global division of labour.
    [Show full text]
  • Development Or Democracy?
    SOCIETY & NATURE (The International Journal of Political Ecology), Vol.3, No.1 (1995) Development or Democracy? TAKIS FOTOPOULOS Abstract: In this article it is argued that the “development problem” is not how to spread the growth economy of the North more efficiently to the South, as suggested by conventional economics (liberal/ marxist/ dependency/ regulation approaches). In fact, the problem is not a problem of “development” at all, but a problem of democracy. In this sense, North and South, which should be redefined to take into account the global character of today's market/growth economy, share the same problem: how to create new political and economic structures securing direct and economic democracy to cover the collectively defined social, economic and cultural needs. The postwar process of decolonisation led to political “independence” in the South; it also led to the spreading of the “growth economy”1 ― a process that continued and expanded the South's marketization initiated by colonialism. Depending on the class alliances formed in the newly independent countries of the South, the growth economy, following a similar process of that in the North, has taken the form of either a capitalist growth economy , or of a socialist 2 growth economy ; in the former, the basic economic decisions are taken through the price mechanism, whereas in the latter most of the corresponding decisions are taken through some form of central planning mechanism. Today, after the 1 The “growth economy” is defined as the economy founded on the partial (at least) identification of Progress with the continual development of the forces of production (see Takis Fotopoulos, “The end of socialist statism”, Society and Nature , Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Capitalism and the Demise of the Left: Renewing Radicalism Through Inclusive Democracy
    THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY A quarterly journal published by the International Network for Inclusive Democracy Vol. 5, No. 1, special issue winter 2009 global capitalism and the demise of the left: renewing radicalism through inclusive democracy edited by steve best ISSN 1753-240X iv This IJID publication is an English translation of the book with the same title published in Athens in 2008 (Koukkida) ISBN 978- 960-98038-5-4 Copyright (C) reserved for the International Journal of Inclusive Democracy, 2009. We welcome requests for translations and/or printed publications into any language (except Greek), which will not be charged for “copyright law rights” provided that we are informed about them in advance and the source is fully mentioned. v Contents the authors...........................................................1 INTRODUCTION Crisis Culture and the Waning of Revolutionary Politics steven best ......................................................... 11 Our Aims international network for inclusive democracy ......... 41 PART I GROWTH, MARKET, SOCIETY AND DEMOCRACY Market and Society takis nikolopoulos ............................................... 49 The Market Economy and the Biological Crisis dr. panayotis koumentakis ..................................... 53 Towards a New Vision for Global Society rafael spósito ..................................................... 77 vi Social Movements, Conflicts and a Perspective of Inclusive Democracy in Argentina guido galafassi ..................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Inclusive Democracy As a Way out of the Present Multi-Dimensional Crisis - TAKIS FOTOPOULOS
    Inclusive Democracy as a way out of the present multi-dimensional crisis - TAKIS FOTOPOULOS The International Journal of INCLUSIVE DEMOCRACY, Vol. 2, No. 3 (June 2006) Inclusive Democracy as a way out of the present multi-dimensional crisis * TAKIS FOTOPOULOS Introduction The aim of this paper is to raise a number of crucial to my mind questions about contemporary society and attempt to critically assess the answers given to these questions while proposing at the same time an alternative way of thinking. These questions are: 1. Does present society face a crisis? If yes, which are its main components or dimensions? 2. Which are the main political proposals to deal with the crisis in general? 3. What are the main theoretical approaches to deal with the ecological crisis? 4. Do we face a reform or revolution dilemma today? 1. Does present society face a crisis ? As regards the first question I think very few people today will doubt that present society, which takes everywhere the form of a neoliberal market/growth economy and representative ‘democracy’, faces a profound and widespread crisis encompassing all spheres of social life—although there are of course too many explanations around about the causes of this crisis and what is to be done to get out of it . Characteristics of the crisis A multi-dimensional crisis: The present crisis is a multi-dimensional crisis involving the economic, the political, the ecological, the social as well as the cultural levels. A universal crisis: It is precisely the universal character of this crisis that differentiates it from other crises in the past.
    [Show full text]