Participation In Cultural Life Research Articles

Kulturno nasleđe - pravo, identitet i dostojanstvo - pravo na pristup kulturnom nasleđu i na uživanje kulturnog nasleđa kao ljudsko pravo

In international human rights law established after World War Two, one of cultural rights that has been traditionally most neglected out of five categories of human rights (civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights), is the right to participation in cultural life, while its segment, by the nature of things, is also the right of access to and enjoyment of cultural heritage. Although international human rights law thus establishes the basis for treating the right of access to and enjoyment of cultural heritage as a human right, international acts dealing with the matters of cultural heritage protection have had a long-prevailing approach in which cultural goods were protected because of their inherent value. It was only recently, with the emerging needs and interests in respect of the safeguarding of cultural diversity and protection of intangible cultural heritage, that the emphasis began to be placed on the relationship, including the legal one, between cultural heritage and human communities, groups and individuals with a special subjective attitude towards it. That is how the human-rights based system of cultural heritage protection was gradually established and the segment of international law dealing with human rights was brought closer to the segment dealing with cultural heritage. In order to consider a right as a human right, apart from the will of law-makers to be like that, it also requires the existence of certain values which constitute the basis for it and which should be safeguarded through the protection of that human right. An understanding deriving from a series of international legal acts and being widespread in theory is that, when it comes to cultural rights, including the right of access to and enjoyment of cultural heritage, such basis is constituted by identity, first of all cultural identity, and human dignity. Therefore, although the foundation is laid for the right of access to and enjoyment of cultural heritage to be treated as a human right, it is necessary to clarify and elaborate, at the legal level, a number of questions which should ensure effective enjoyment of this right. The task is in the hands of states, either as participants in the adoption of international law acts or as national law-makers, so the question remains open as to the nature of their attitude to further development of the human-rights based system of cultural heritage protection.

Arquivo da Faculdade de Direito do Recife: acesso à cultura através da extensão universitária

Este trabalho tem como propósito apresentar uma síntese das atividades e dos resultados obtidos na realização do projeto de extensão “Preservando a Memória da Faculdade de Direito do Recife: acesso ao Arquivo Histórico”, executado na Faculdade de Direito do Recife, da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, durante os meses de abril a dezembro de 2018. O artigo apresenta como pressuposto de concepção e desenvolvimento do projeto a configuração da participação na vida cultural enquanto um direito humano, constituindo-se a extensão universitária em privilegiada oportunidade de fomentá-la, ao integrar esforços da comunidade acadêmica e de toda sociedade na preservação e democratização do acesso aos bens culturais. Nesse sentido, são também descritos os materiais e métodos observados durante a execução do projeto na UFPE. Os resultados revelam a contribuição da extensão universitária para a conservação do acervo e democratização das informações através da digitalização, descrição e posterior publicação dos documentos nos meios digitais.

Digitisation, Copyright and the Glam Sector: Constructing a Fit-For-Purpose Safe Harbour Regime

Copyright law does not currently align with the legitimate activities of galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAMs). The GLAM sector plays a central role in collecting and promoting access to cultural works. Increasingly, GLAM institutions are employing innovative digital technologies to expand access to culture and foster greater levels of cultural participation. Despite the utility underlying digitisation, copyright limits the use of digital technologies within the GLAM sphere. This article examines current copyright limitations and demonstrates copyright's significant limiting effect. It argues that reform is necessary to strengthen the right to participate in cultural life and to remedy harms inflicted by the current copyright regime. Creating a fit-for-purpose safe harbour would empower institutions to employ digitisation within a framework of reasonable copyright constraints. Accordingly, this article constructs a potential safe harbor that permits non-commercial GLAM digitisation, while also protecting copyright holders and tikanga Māori. The Copyright Act 1994 is currently under review. New Zealand ought to seize the present reform opportunity to invigorate participation in cultural life and enrich the cultural fabric of society.

Explorando los derechos de participación cultural y nuevas maneras de acceso a la cultura

Cultural policies impact in different ways on people and the way they relate to cultural objects and spaces, materializing different types of cultural rights ranging from the right to enjoyment and cultural contemplation to the right to active participation in cultural life. Gradients that oscillate between looking and doing culture. We will see how policies aimed at promoting the right to participate in cultural life are currently under developed, to the detriment of policies that promote rights of provision or freedom. In this article we analyze what types of cultural rights are at stake in each cultural action, placing at the center of the debate the need to understand the materialization of cultural rights so that they have a full development in cultural policies.

Inclusive Education—A Sustainable Approach?

Inclusive Education—A Sustainable Approach? Markku Jokinen This article is excerpted from Jokinen, M. (2016). Inclusive education—A sustainable approach? In G. A. M. De Clerck & P. V. Paul (Eds.), Sign language, sustainable development, and equal opportunities (pp. 105–117). Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press. Full and Equal Participation Through Learning Life and Social Skills Full participation is one of the general principles in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (CRPD) for enabling the enjoyment of human rights. This concept cuts across all issues in the Convention, and is a specific obligation of states/parties that have ratified the Convention document. Other general principles relevant to the education of deaf persons are respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and respect for their right to preserve their identities. The latter is related to the linguistic and cultural identity of the deaf community stated in Articles 24(2)(b) and 30(4). Both principles are essential to full enjoyment of human rights by deaf students in educational contexts. According to Article 24, on education, learning life and social development skills facilitates full and equal participation of persons with disabilities. With respect to deaf students, facilitating the learning of a sign language, promoting the linguistic identity of the deaf community, and ensuring that education is delivered in the most appropriate languages are the measures adopted by the ratified states to enable full and equal participation. The states must also take appropriate measures to employ teachers who are qualified, at least in the use of a sign language. These measures reflect culture-sensitive approaches to guiding students in learning skills that match their personalities, needs, and ways to live as deaf persons. This is part of the CRPD's recognition of the diversity of persons with disabilities and that these individuals can and do contribute to human, social, and economic development. Using and learning sign language with and from proficient teachers provides a foundation for balanced personal, academic, and social development. Enabling deaf students to participate fully in all learning processes and respecting their linguistic and cultural identities require that educators and professionals examine possible factors in successful inclusive education based on needs of deaf students. Deaf People: A Linguistic and Cultural Group Article 24 is connected to Article 2 regarding definitions of the language and communication used in the CRPD. It is the first treaty to consider sign languages as equal to spoken languages, and thus recognizes sign languages as languages in their own right. Another important link is to Article 9, on accessibility, where it is stated that states/parties shall take measures to provide professional sign language interpreters. [End Page 70] Article 21, on freedom of expression and opinion and access to information, includes recognizing and promoting the use of sign languages. Article 30, on participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure, and sport, includes the state's obligation to recognize and support the specific cultural and linguistic identity of persons with disabilities, including sign languages and deaf culture. A perspective on deaf people as a linguistic and cultural group is strengthened through these articles (CRPD, n.d.; Kauppinen & Jokinen, 2014). This perspective should be kept in mind when one develops programs for the education of deaf people that strengthen their educational rights. There is a traditional position that only individual rights are recognized in international law, whereas linguistic rights have been perceived as having a more collective nature. For example, the development of legally binding treaties such as the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has shown a shift toward acceptance in political and legal terms of the linguistic rights (of minorities) to education (de Varennes, cited in Phillipson, 2000). Further in-depth analysis of the minority and human rights status of deaf people from the linguistic and cultural rights perspective in relation to the CRPD and other treaties is needed to gain a better understanding of what the linguistic and cultural rights of deaf students mean in an educational context. The World Federation of the Deaf used the linguistic rights perspective and arguments during negotiations of the...

Disability, right to culture and copyright: which regulatory option?

Access to knowledge and participation in cultural life for persons with disabilities has always constituted a tough challenge. Recent studies show that only 5% of published works are available in accessible format, and the number plummets to 1% in developing countries. Coupled with the high costs of production and distribution, and the full reliance on public funds and intervention of public or non-profit organizations, copyright has traditionally represented an additional obstacle on the path for a broader availability of accessible works. Recently, the situation has worsened with the tilting in the balance between rights and exceptions caused by the legislative response to digital threats, when the unprecedented opportunities offered by new technologies to foster accessibility have been largely trumped by copyright law. Still, the last decades have witnessed the beginning of a paradigm shift, originating from the human rights arena, and moving towards a new definition of the interplay between authors’ rights and the right to take part in cultural life, both at a general level and with particular regards to persons with disabilities. This article offers a diachronic overview of the path that, from the rediscovery of Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights through its General Comments to Article 30 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, has led to the adoption of the Marrakesh Treaty. It then analyses, with a focus on the European Union and its Member States, the national and regional responses to the new human rights obligations, looking at the relations between legislative exceptions and model or collective license agreements. The assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the two main regulatory options lays the groundwork for proposals of further areas of intervention, necessary to fully comply with the international human rights obligations and to achieve the fullest access to and participation in culture possible for persons with disabilities, by using the tools offered by international and national copyright law.

Communication in social media: The exhibitions devoted to Salvat-Papasseit and Raimon at Arts Santa Mònica as case studies

Abstract This article shows the research results on the exhibitions devoted to Salvat-Papasseit and Raimon at Arts Santa Mònica Creativity Centre, Barcelona. This article is part of a global research project on the presence of Catalonian museums in social media. The main goal of this research is to examine the dissemination and communication strategy used by Arts Santa Mònica in social media platforms. Our methodology consisted in elaborating and applying quantitative and qualitative parameters and indicators for the analysis. Significant data were obtained using the tracking engine DigiDocSpider and were also provided by the centre itself. According to the results, Arts Santa Mònica has a relevant presence on social networks and it is also very active on them. In addition, the centre has a very dynamic website and a significant number of visitors, both virtual and on-site. On the other hand, the results also show the necessity for using new generation tools and for information updates. We conclude this article by arguing for including the above-mentioned tools as a way to improve social participation in cultural life and social media, not only as a way to target audiences in exhibitions but also as actual tools of collective participation. We have used this research project to take a look at how literature is represented online, thus suggesting future research lines regarding both literature and digital technologies.

Educating for cultural citizenship: Reframing the goals of arts education

Arts education does more than transfer the skills and knowledge needed to create artistic works. It also helps to shape young people's orientations towards participation in the cultural life of their communities. In this article, Paul Kuttner argues for reframing arts education as a process of developing cultural citizenship. Cultural citizenship, a concept from political theory and cultural studies, is concerned with the development of diverse cultural practices and identities alongside full participation in cultural and political life. Using this lens, we can look at different forms of arts education and ask, “What types of cultural citizens are these programs developing?” Building on the work of civic education scholars Westheimer and Kahne (2004), Kuttner suggests a few initial types before delving into a fuller description of what he calls the “justice-oriented cultural citizen.” This concept is illustrated with data from an ethnographic case study of one arts organization that is developing such citizens: Project HIP-HOP, a Boston-based youth organization that trains young artists as cultural organizers who can use their art to catalyze change in their communities. This reframing of arts education as a form of civic education helps to situate artistic practices in their larger socio-political contexts, while contributing to an ongoing dialogue about the role of arts education in supporting participatory democracy and social change.

Introduction to a new book about health, lifestyle, and health promotion

Being healthy is much desired by all people. Disease and ill-health are not only ‘‘harvest by chance’’ - many of the determinants of health are well known. We know from research that ill-health as well as the majority of chronic or longstanding diseases are related to unhealthy lifestyles, for example, smoking, wrong diet, physical inactivity, and exaggerated alcohol consumption. Today, we refer to these conditions as ‘‘welfare- or lifestyle diseases.’’ People learn behaviors and habits - rather than those being innate - and these behaviors and habits can be affected by one’s own strength and also be replaced by other more health supporting ones. However, it is not as simple as it sounds to change one’s lifestyle, because it is commonly grounded in structural conditions as well as in gender, class, ethnicity, and sexuality. To change lifestyle, it is necessary to acquire more knowledge and enhance one’s awareness of the relationships between lifestyle and health. Factors that promote health can, for example, be to have a satisfying job and to enjoy economic stability or close social relations. Participation in cultural life also has health promoting effects, independent of earlier cultural habits. (Published: 20 May 2011) Citation: Int J Qualitative Stud Health Well-being 2011, 6 : 7138 - DOI: 10.3402/qhw.v6i2.7138

Health and social justice

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), ratified by 160 States, confers on all human beings the core entitlements essential to human fulfilment, e.g. the rights to work, social security, family life, education and participation in cultural life. Although all are vital, the ICESCR’s guarantee of “the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health” may be the most fundamental.1 Why is this so? Health has special meaning to individuals and communities at large. Good health is necessary for human well-being, providing intrinsic value for comfort, contentment and pursuit of the joys of life. But good health does more than that. It is important in allowing individuals to exercise a range of human rights – both civil and political (e.g. physical integrity, personal security, political participation), social and economic (e.g. employment, education and family life). Just as important, health is necessary for well functioning societies. If a population does not have a decent level of health, it is very difficult to ensure economic prosperity, political participation, collective security and so forth. Jennifer Prah Ruger is one of a handful of scholars who have been steadfast in defending the right to health and the imperative of reducing unconscionable health inequalities around the globe. Her latest book, Health and social justice, stands, by far, as her most systematic and vital contribution. In this seminal work, Ruger presents a theory of health and social justice, which she calls the “health capability paradigm” – whereby she says that all people should have access to the means to avoid premature death and preventable morbidity. Hers is a vision that incorporates the philosophical, economic and political to make a compelling case that all societies (through public–private partnerships) can design and build effective institutions and systems to achieve health capabilities. Although she focuses (perhaps overly so) on the provision of medical care, Ruger offers a rich explanation of the essential drivers of health, such as surveillance, preventive measures, clean air, safe drinking water and nutritious food. In the book’s foreword, Amartya Sen helpfully distinguishes “good health policy” from “good policy for health”, explaining that it is the latter that is needed for health justice. This supports the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) “all-of-government” or “health-in-all-policies” approach, recognizing that the health sector is not the only contributor to good health. The WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health concluded that “the social conditions in which people are born, live and work are the single most important determinants of good health or ill health, of a long and productive life, or a short and miserable one”.2 Ruger does not shy from the imperative of resource redistribution – from the rich to the poor and the healthy to the sick – offering a cogent pathway on how redistribution can take place in society. The health capability paradigm envisions “shared health governance” where researchers, health insurers, governments, health professionals and citizens work together to build consensus around health priorities – including the legislative process, coalition building, citizen participation and commitment. Adopting a theory of “incompletely theorized agreement”, Ruger argues that constituent members of society do not need to agree on every element to reach consensus about key health goals. Priorities would include child/maternal health, alleviating hunger, and supply of safe drinking water. If society ensures health capabilities, individuals have a corresponding obligation to take personal responsibility, Ruger argues. Individuals have an obligation to use their “health agency” to pursue good health, for example, by eating nutritional foods, engaging in physical activity and complying with medical advice. For this to happen, of course, governments must structure the built environment to make it easy to choose healthy behaviours – such as making fruit and vegetables accessible and affordable. It is good to imagine a world where society maximizes health and closes the health gap; where all constituent members can build consensus and coalitions; and where individuals accept personal responsibility. Yet, societies often fail to ensure basic survival needs and universal health care. Constituent members often fail to agree on health priorities, regretfully acting in their self-interest rather than the common good. And often individuals find it exceptionally hard to eat a nutritious diet, exercise and engage in safe sex. Even if achieving health and health equality are exceedingly difficult, it is reassuring to know that there exist rare scholars such as Jennifer Prah Ruger who strive for social justice. This is a book that demands attention and determined action, for nothing is more important for the world’s population than the passionate pursuit of health and social justice.

Leprosy and human rights

On the 18th June the United Nations Human Rights Council unanimously adopted a resolution (A/HRC/8/L.18) on ‘The elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members.’ This historic resolution was sponsored by 59 member states and made specific reference to key earlier documents, namely the Universal of Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966). The Council called upon Governments to take effective measures to eliminate any type of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members and requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to collect information on the measures that Governments take to eliminate discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members and to submit a report to the Council. It further requested the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee to formulate a draft set of principles and guidelines to eliminate discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, and to submit it to the Council for its consideration by September 2009. This resolution is very important and all should be encouraged to pursue its follow-up and implementation. However, leprosy has traditionally been seen as a disease apart and there are parallel arguments that rights-based approaches to health and development should be pursued for the benefit of all people, including those affected by leprosy. Since people affected by leprosy should have the same human rights as all people, it is appropriate to make greater use of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966). Almost all the articles of this Covenant can be seen to remain unfulfilled and unrespected for people who have been affected by leprosy. Its articles cover self determination, economic and social and cultural rights, right to work and fair remuneration, protection of the family, adequate living standards, physical and mental health, education, participation in cultural life, and access to the benefits of scientific progress. In 2008 the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities entered into force following its adoption and ratification by the requisite number of member states. This Convention too, represents a major new international legal instrument, and with its greater focus on inclusivity in development, is of critical importance in pursuing the rights of all persons with disabilities, including those affected by leprosy. The WHO Global Strategy on Leprosy highlights the importance of social justice and equity and stresses that this must be integral to all leprosy work including approaches to preventing disability, stigma and discrimination.

Rights-based food systems and the goals of food systems reform

Food security, health, decent livelihoods, gender equity, safe working conditions, cultural identity and participation in cultural life are basic human rights that can be achieved at least in part through the food system. But current trends in the US prevent full realization of these economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) for residents, farmers, and wageworkers in the food system. Supply chains that strive to meet the goals of social justice, economic equity, and environmental quality better than the dominant globalized food value networks are gaining popularity in the US. However, achieving important human rights has become conflated with other goals of food system reform over the past decade, such as being “community-based,” local, and sustainable. This conflation confuses means, ends, and complementary goals; and it may lead activists trying to help communities to regain control of their food system choices into less productive strategies. This paper introduces a new concept, rights-based food systems (RBFS), and explores its connection with localization and sustainability. The core criteria of RBFS are democratic participation in food system choices affecting more than one sector; fair, transparent access by producers to all necessary resources for food production and marketing; multiple independent buyers; absence of human exploitation; absence of resource exploitation; and no impingement on the ability of people in other locales to meet this set of criteria. Localization and a community base can help achieve RBFS by facilitating food democracy and reducing environmental exploitation, primarily by lowering environmental costs due to long-distance transportation. Sustainability per se is an empty goal for food system reform, unless what will be sustained and for whom are specified. The RBFS concept helps to clarify what is worth sustaining and who is most susceptible to neglect in attempts to reform food systems. Localization can be a means toward sustainability if local food systems are also RBFS.

Self and Society: Participation in Cultural Life: A Caribbean Perspective

An analysis of the Regan Administration's Caribbean Basin Initiative and its impact on Caribbean cultural and economic development.

Bernhard Linde. Noor-Eesti vooriülem. Bernhard Linde. Leader of the Young Estonian Pack

Bernhard Linde (1886–1954) was a recognized and prolific Estonian theatre critic of the first quarter of the 20th century, who mediated and propagated western as well as eastern European theatrical innovations. In addition, he was active as a literary and art critic, publisher, and proponent of libraries, to a modest extent he was a prose writer and poet. Unquestionably, however, Bernhard Linde’s most prominent role was as one of the founding members of the literary movement Young Estonia. He was the group’s first general manager; later on, he was the secretary of the Estonian Writers’ Association Young Estonia, and the chairman of the board of the Young Estonia Publishing House. Linde’s formal education culminated in graduation from Tartu University as a Slavic philologist; he was the only member of the Young Estonia group to demonstrate serious and sustained interest toward Slavic cultures and peoples. Linde was a contradictory figure, evoking a range of responses from his contemporaries: on the one hand, there was the unbelievably broad range of his participation in cultural life, his organizing skills and business instincts in directing publishing houses; on the other hand, a superficiality in his writings, his often rash and subjective style as a critic, and his financial intrigues. If one adds in Linde’s stubbornness, egocentrism, and intense spirit of protest, which often led to lawsuits, the outcome is the portrait of an extremely complicated, fascinating, and passionate man—both in his creative work and his personal life Linde guaranteed a place for himself in literary history through a small catch of texts: a few foundational essays (for example, on August Kitzberg), a translation of Balzac’s Le père Goriot, the essay collection Omad ja võõrad (Own and Foreign) and a travel book focusing on the literature and theatre of eastern Europe (Loova Kesk-Euroopa Poole (Toward A Creative Central Europe)). The prominent public figure and historian Eduard Laaman has pointed out that the historical picture of Young Estonia would be incomplete without Bernhard Linde. It was Laaman who, in view of Linde’s business instincts, dubbed him Young Estonia’s ”leader of the pack”, a label that stuck. While fulfilling the responsibilities of the group’s general secretary and business manager (the Estonian word asjaajaja has a broad connotational field) Linde carried most of the burden of Young Estonia’s correspondence. Though he often protested against the designation, the term general manager seems most precisely to characterize Linde’s activities in the context of Young Estonia, since the group’s financial matters and problems connected with its publishing activities were largely his to handle. Compared with his organizational work, his own literary contributions from the Young Estonia era were modest. Young Estonia’s fifth and last album was published in 1915. The last text specifically about Young Estonia authored by a member of the movement was Bernhard Linde’s ”Noor-Eesti” kümme aastat (Young Estonia: Ten Years), also mostly written that same year, though not published until 1919 (publication date on the title page was 1918, reprinted 2005). This text is a systematic historical overview of the movement which continues to offer valuable perspectives for today’s reader.

Theoretical reflections

The article starts with a discussion about the frequent statement that culture is a marginal area in politics. It proceeds with an analysis of the phenomenon and concept of “the cultural turn” and its possible consequences for cultural democracy. Then there follows a reflection on the potential power of religion and culture in political developments. After these introductory sections I present and discuss what I call five “democracy dimensions” of cultural policy: norms and ideologies; distribution of economic resources; institutional structures and decision‐making procedures; agents and interests in the policy‐making process; and access to and participation in cultural life. The conclusion is that under certain circumstances culture may mobilise huge masses of people in political actions but this is unlikely to happen in Western European democracies where culture in a long historical process has been privatised and isolated from big politics by the establishment of a specific sphere with its own structures, norms, logics and discourses. It is questionable if cultural policies will be more democratic under the reign of global capitalism and new liberalism. “The cultural turn” is an ambivalent phenomenon which cannot by itself bring about more cultural democracy. The future of cultural democracy cannot be decided for by cultural life or the cultural policy system themselves, it is dependent on what will happen to democracy as a total political system, of which cultural policy is only a small part.

Participatory singing for older people: a perception of benefit

A questionnaire survey was carried out in the Glasgow area in Scotland amongst people over the UK age of statutory retirement participating in the community arts project Call That Singing?, with a return rate of 75 per cent. The results demonstrate that participatory singing was perceived as providing worthwhile physical, emotional, social and cultural benefits. Participants reported no overall deterioration in their perception of health over the 12‐year period since the project started: this is despite the high recorded incidence of illness and bereavement during the same period to be expected of people of this age. Participants perceived statistically significant improvements to their general quality of life, emotional wellbeing (including a marginally significant shift in self‐confidence) and understanding of singing. They also reported improvements to their social well‐being, although these were not statistically significant. The research shows that participatory singing is making a contribution to the cultural economy and fabric of the city of Glasgow, illustrated by the increased number of visits to theatres, shows and museums and the increased level of active participation in cultural life.

Human Place: The Dialectic of the Global and the Local

In a series of conferences held between 1972 and 1979, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) defined human culture as 'the spiritual enrichment of the human personality ... a social phenomenon resulting from individuals joining and cooperating in creative activities'. This definition suggests that true participation in cultural life must take place in local contexts, in environments scaled to human time and human space where an individual's physical senses and perceptions can be employed most directly. In contrast, a persistent present-day notion holds that local contexts are now anachronistic, because they fail to provide the larger conceptual possibilities offered by a global or transcultural view of existence. Such beliefs have currency because industrialized cultures have achieved a more or less global view of the world, rooted, for the most part, in perceptual data yielded by new communications technologies. Moreover, conventional wisdom has it that globalism will ultimately provide a new and grand unity of purpose for all mankind and that it will banish disorder and chaos by sweeping aside the archaic remains of localism, regionalism and provincialism. At the same time, no one seriously questions the enormous potential benefits a global perspective offers to the world, with its promise of enhanced understanding, an open flow of information and crucial transcultural dialogues. But on balance one should be mindful that the global worldview had its roots not only in the transcendent aspirations of the Enlightenment, but, equally, in the rise of an industrialization dedicated to unremitting growth, on the one hand, and to the paradigm of Progress, on the other.