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WORLD POLITICS – Lecture 6

WORLD POLITICS – Lecture 6. 2. THE LIBERAL STATE (2). The Ultimate Triumph of Western Liberal Democracy. An unbashed victory of economic and political liberation The triumph of the West, of the Western idea. Examples. Spread of consumerist Western culture Rock music, rap music

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WORLD POLITICS – Lecture 6

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  1. WORLD POLITICS – Lecture 6

  2. 2. THE LIBERAL STATE (2)

  3. The Ultimate Triumph of Western Liberal Democracy • An unbashed victory of economic and political liberation • The triumph of the West, of the Western idea

  4. Examples • Spread of consumerist Western culture • Rock music, rap music • West as the role model

  5. Witnessing the End of History The end point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western Liberal Democracy as the final form of human government

  6. EARLIER Karl Marx: Historical direction was determined by material forces under the industrial revolution. Only communism could resolve the contradictions imposed by material belief. The industrial mode of production is alienating human consciousness (art, religion, culture).

  7. Marx Weber: • Protestants eat well while Catholics sleep well • Contrary to Karl Marx, the material mode of production was rooted in religion and culture • The emergence of modern capitalism and profit motive is rooted in the realm of the spirit

  8. Asia: Asia’s success in the past decades • Free market as precondition of economic growth • But the cultural heritage of Far Eastern societies (the ethic of work, saving, family, religious heritage, ingrained moral qualities) can explain economic growth

  9. Islamic Ideology: By placing restriction on certain forms of economic behavior  obstacle to growth

  10. Past Competing Ideologies against Liberalism FASCISM AND COMMUNISM • Fascism saw the lack of community being the result of material belief • Called for new “people” on the basis of national exclusiveness (Hitler)

  11. Communism Material belief, industrial revolution, are creating contradictions between capital and labor. Claims of contradictions constituted the chief accusation against liberalism

  12. Discredit of the Communist Economic System • 1978: the Chinese Communist party decollectivized agriculture for 800 million Chinese • China’s consumer goods increased, giving the incentive to work

  13. True: China is Far from Being a Liberal Democracy • No more than 20% of its market has been marketized • Continues to be ruled by a self-appointed Communist party

  14. Undergoing Changes in China • Marxist ideology has however become irrelevant, because of the new technocratic elite governing China today • Economic reforms before political reforms, preventing the breakdown of authority • But the power of the liberal idea continues to be strong as economic power devolves, and the economy becomes more open to the outside world

  15. Undergoing Changes in China (Cont.) Common mistake: The reform movements in China and the Soviet Union are commonly interpreted as the victory of the material over the ideal Ideological frameworks are obstacles to highly productive modern economies

  16. Undergoing Changes in China (Cont.) • Over 20,000 Chinese students, children of Chinese elite studying in the US and other Western countries will be the source of political reforms, specifically Democratization • China can no longer sustain practices of illiberal forces • Marxism and Maoism are becoming passé • Fascist and communist challenges to liberalism are dead

  17. Two Remaining Challenges to Liberalism NATIONALISM AND RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM • As the result of impersonality and the vacuum of spirituality of liberal consumerist societies • Today’s religious fundamentalism is being manifested through Islam

  18. Two Remaining Challenges to Liberalism (Cont.) • Nationalism is being manifested through ethnic and racial identities • The rigidity of Islam and the confinement of Nationalism (ethnic or racial) within countries for independence are less likely to be a threat to Liberalism

  19. Places where History will Continue to Matter • The Third World

  20. Why did China and the Soviet Union move away from central planning? Why is Marxism dead? • Under its banner, people cannot be made to work harder • Peoples have lost confidence in themselves • Death of Marxism means the growing of common marketization and the diminution of the likelihood of large-scale conflict between states

  21. Historical Part of the World • Fascism (dead) • Communism (dead) • Religious fundamentalism (active, not significant for large-scale conflicts) • Nationalism (active, not significant for large-scale conflicts) • Post-Historical World • (The triumph of Liberalism) • Liberalism • Marketization • Interdependence • Less conflicts

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