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Post-colonial European politics have undergone profound changes. Constructing an intellectual history of European development discourse, this book brings together post-structuralist and critical approaches to understanding development. Nathalie Karagiannis analyses three key terms of European development discourse: 'responsibility', 'efficiency' and 'giving'. Situating these terms in a concrete history of European post-colonial politics, the author shows how European policy has shifted from accepting responsibility for colonialism - constructed as it is on the paternalistic model of the gift - to a more amnesiac politics in which post-colonial countries are responsible for their own fate. In this way, Karagiannis illustrates that efficiency has become the overriding goal of development, and that the relationship between 'developed' and 'developing' countries is mainly defined by considerations pertaining to market capitalism

Globalization has been the topic of heated debate in recent years, with one side asserting that it will produce a better standard of living for people around the world, and a fierce opposition arguing that it will ultimately lead to greater poverty and the destruction of unique human cultures. Varieties of World Making tackles the issue from a different angle, proposing that the contemporary global network of business, politics and culture be viewed from the inter-disciplinary perspective of 'world making'. Drawn from the ranks of sociology, law, international relations, political philosophy and history, the distinguished contributors cut through polarized rhetoric to examine the current global situation. Their proposed diagnoses draw upon thoughtful analyses of various political dilemmas whose ripple effects are felt around the world, such as the volatile relationship between Islam and Europe, or the legal foundations for a true international order absent in the shadows of imperialism. Varieties of World Making will be an essential resource for all those grappling with the complex consequences of globalization for the future

Kostas Axelos and Cornelius Castoriadis are among the most inspiring thinkers of the second half of the 20th century. They each combine comprehensive philosophy with social and political theory, and a broad view on human history with a critical diagnosis of the present, with nuanced observations on our current condition—characteristics, rare during this period, that this article describes as polyscopic thought. Castoriadis is widely known as the philosopher of 'autonomy', of the human capacity to give oneself one's own law; his diagnosis of the present focused on the weakening of this capacity in contemporary capitalism and democracy. Axelos, in turn, is a thinker of the 'planetary age' in which the human pretence to master the world and one's own fate withers away in the face of the predominance of 'technique'. This essay connects and contrasts the work of the two thinkers trying to understand the differences and to uncover underlying commonalities. Significantly, it suggests that both scholars saw a need to rethink key concerns in philosophy and the social sciences with a view to better grasp what awaits human beings in the current world and what can be done about it.

What is the 'Global South' and where is it?The term 'Global South' marks a new attempt at providing order and meaning in the current global political constellation, replacing the term 'Third World'. But the term 'Global South' is fraught with many ambiguities. These eight essays explore the possible meanings of this new distinction and assess the advantages and disadvantages of adopting it. They cast a wide exploratory net, looking beyond the dominant politico-economic meaning to how the way that we interpret the world has changed over time and the wider cultural–intellectual meanings.Key FeaturesAsks whether 'Global South' and 'Global North' are useful for understanding the current global constellationAnalyses the recent global transformation that allegedly made the 'Third World' disappear and the 'Global South' emergeExplores how space is used for different but overlapping purposes: to build socio-political concepts, to criticise recent trends in global developments and to develop a normative angle for collective political actionDraws on global history, conceptual history, comparative literature, social and political theory, political philosophy and social history to develop a full, interdisciplinary picture of the uses of 'South' and 'North'ContributorsJacob Dlamini, Princeton University, USAÀ. Lorena Fuster, University of Barcelona, SpainNathalie Karagiannis, University of Barcelona, SpainMaxim Khomyakov, Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, RussiaAurea Mota, University of Barcelona, SpainCláudio Costa Pinheiro, Rio de Janeiro Federal University, BrazilGerard Rosich, independent researcherPeter Wagner, Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) and University of Barcelona, Spain