Will globalisation lead inevitably to a collision of civilisations?

Today we are witnessing numerous ethnic and religious conflicts, nationalistic trends in policy and regional fundamentalist movements. The International Year for the Rapprochement (bringing together) of Cultures aims to demonstrate the beneficial effects of cultural diversity in order to stem this tide. UNESCO is playing a leading part in building “the defences of peace in the minds of men” through education, science, culture and communication. The official website emphasises tolerance in an era of globalisation as many influential politicians believe that globalisation will inevitably lead to more conflict.

In the context of globalization, the parallel challenges of preserving cultural diversity and cultural identities and promoting intercultural dialogue take on a new importance and urgency.

By nature, the process of cultural globalization has a primordial conflict potential since we often have to reconsider or reject some traditional principles and values of our own culture. Of course, various societies react to alien changes differently. The range of resistance to the process of cultural merging is wide; ranging from a passive aversion to values of other cultures to an active counteraction to their distribution and establishment. As a result we are witnesses of numerous ethnic and religious conflicts, nationalistic trends in policy and regional fundamentalist movements.

The Director-General of Unesco, Irina Bokova states:

We live in a world that is progressively marked by a growing interdependence in all sectors of human activity.  The resulting cross-fertilization of our societies offers new opportunities to strengthen links between peoples, nations and cultures at world level. Similarly, globalization has been a foreboding sign of incomprehension and mistrust over the last years. The economic, environmental and ethical crisis has further increased the sense of insecurity and lack of confidence. In the light of these developments, I have suggested a new universal vision, open to all human communities, and I have called it the “new humanism”.  I am convinced that UNESCO has all the strong points needed to supply a humanist response to globalization and to the crisis. In answer to the sense of vulnerability that permeates all levels, there is indeed a need to invent new forms of action to safeguard social cohesion and preserve peace.”

Tags: 2010: International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures, UNESCO

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 at 2:37 am and is filed under General, other interesting stuff . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.