Suchergebnisse

Two books are reviewed: 1. China Transformed: Historical Change and the Limits of European Experience, by R. Bin Wong, and 2. The Great Divergence: China, Europe and the Making of the Modern World, by Kenneth Pomeranz.

Many voices now proclaim that we live in a global age. Doubts are cast on this view in this paper, particularly insofar as it suggests that the nation-state has lost its functional salience for modernity. A first argument suggests, by means of varied figures and analytic consideration, that the world economy is far from globalized. A second argument adds to this an insistence of national diversity within capitalism. None of this is to suggest that nothing has changed. To the contrary, the internationalization of the world economy is now embedded more firmly than it was in the past - as the result of a stable geopolitical settlement.

A definition & a genealogical analysis of the notion of civility are presented. It is contended that civility is a type of societal organization, not necessarily connected with capitalism, different from liberalism & democracy, & related to the concept of modernity. Although civil society originally surfaced in Western nations, its foundations were unstable, as exemplified by the destruction of Europe after WWI & WWII. The US managed to preserve civil society during the 20th century, but its cultural homogeneity has produced a less than exemplary model. Contrary to the popular position that civil society is ready to infiltrate all global societies, it is argued that ideological differences & social problems of many non-Western nations, especially countries with strong Islamic traditions, will prevent the global spread of civil society. J. W. Parker

Popper's view of the enemies of the open society is held to rest upon psycholo gism, a view of the very great dangers of misguided intellectuals, and a cyclical view of historical process. While there is something to these claims, they are treated here skeptically. But the purpose of the article is less to attack than to reconstruct. To that end, key elements of a sociology appropriate to an open society are offered.