The road towards an "enlightened" global society

XVII World Congress of Sociology, International Sociology Association. Gotemburgo, 11-17 Julho de 2010.The contemporary global paradigm has develop a panacea of contradictions. While it struggles towards an open world market, unfixed boundaries and a homogeneous society, it faces, at the same time, the arising dilemma concerning the fragmentation of the political and public sphere, now filled with the interpenetration of multiple cultural discourses. The novel disparity between the “we” and the “others” and the diverse struggles for recognition (Benhabib, 2002) incited the greater paradox Globalization has to face: the imperatives of the economic subsystem and the instrumental rationalization (Adorno/ Horkheimer) of the “Lifeworld” (Habermas) have developed a schizophrenic public sphere with no political and social consensus. Culture becomes, therefore, a crucial feature in this paradigmatic change. In this sense, the current global social order should re-emerge with a new cultural and political imaginary (Castoriadis, 2005), through which a “world federation” (Kant), along with its intrinsic universal values - justice, freedom and equality, ought to unfold. In short, this paper not only tries to understand the implications of “deterritorialization of politics, rule and governance” (Held, 1999) in the social and cultural spheres, but, most importantly, it tries to dissect the importance of egalitarian reciprocity and democratic dialogue between cultural viewpoints as indispensable vehicles to reach an enlightened humanity and global reality. Along with this paper, it will also be discussed the role of the intellectual as a politically engaged social actor with the responsibility to develop a greater public awareness towards the dehumanization and the human impotence constantly perpetuated by the extreme rationalization of society.N/