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Aus australischer Sicht

The concept of apartheid has significance far beyond the situation in South Africa which coined the term. Indeed, the concept can be generalized to apply to the present world situation. It provides both a better understanding of the present human condition and more effective guidelines for action to change it. The processes of interdependence, interpenetration and intercommunication in the present era have made the entire humanity into one global society. The present nation-state system, which obscures the appearance of this society, fails miserably in responding to the concerns and needs of the global community. The concept of global apartheid provides a more realistic and comprehensive view of the world and suggests appropriate ways of so acting as to make a beginning toward realizing a just, participatory, peaceful and humane global society.

Until a few years ago the term "racism" seemed to have a fairly precise meaning. It meant the attribution of various forms of social inferiority or superiority to certain groups of people by virtue of their biological makeup. In its more developed and systematic form, racism was a theory of genetic determination postulating a causal link between the physical appearance (phenotype) of people and their social behavior and attitudes. While ethnocentrism (preference for one's own culture) is universal, racism is exceptional, though not unique, to Western cultures. The overwhelming power and wealth of Western societies, however, made Western racism by far the most widespread and violent strain of the virus.