Cultural Convergence as a Form of Struggle for Global Dominance in the Age of the Crisis of Classical Reason

Abstract

The article analyzes the current crisis of the world-system, the evidences of which are apparent in various areas of social reality: science, politics, and religion. In this regard, the author argues that all these transformations are associated with a change in the cultural paradigm that can be described as a crisis of the universal mind. Belief in the universal mind, which founded the whole culture of the age of Modernity, is a subject to significant erosion today and it changes the entire landscape of social reality and the meaning of the social practices. Moreover, it affects the functioning of the entire worldsystem by changing cultural priorities themselves. In the past, the theory of modernization assumed a globalization process with the inclusion of all the subjects on the principles of the Western model, but today, due to the belief in the absence of universal truth, the world is segmented into cultural subworlds that are built around particular values and traditions. In our days, there are several civilizational projects (American, Russian, Islamic, Chinese) that are alternative to the classical project of Modernity, based on the the values of Enlightenment. In this regard, the current stage of globalization cannot be considered as the global expansion of the Western (Modernity) project, but there is a competition of civilizational subworlds, challenging the classical Western project. It is obvious that under such conditions the cultural proximity becomes a fundamental resource that allows competitive projects to expand their sphere of influence. When belief in the universal mind and in the existence of the Absolute Truth recedes into the past, it becomes impossible to appeal to universal norms and principles. Therefore, it only remains to appeal to own cultural traditions, putting efforts to make them as attractive as possible for both internal and external “consumers.” Thus, the cultural proximity, which due to the destruction of the universal mind suddenly became a geopolitical value, turns out to be not only a part of an individual’s cultural identity but also a tool for promoting civilizational projects.