Modernity and Sustainability (original) (raw)
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Based on our historical experience in the form of macro-problems and the related threats of the contemporary man and his world, we are aware of the need of new socio-cultural dynamics, even of a broader change of the formed way of human existence. The challenge today seems to be to develop a new way of life and its „ethos‟. The task is to apply new socio-cultural dynamics and quality to our practice with regard to the future that respects clear connection and mutual determination of social and environmental phenomena. The study is based on a presumption that in the intentions of sustainable development the new demanded socio-cultural dynamics requires a man oriented in the meanings of reality that is not axiologically and ethically neutral. In this context, among other things, the need to work on „new science‟, in which the human dimension will be strengthened, is uncovered. In particular, it seeks to exceed the traditional frameworks of scientistic foundations. The authors also poi...
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There is no doubt about the profound crisis currently experienced by the industrial civilization that has exerted global dominium during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, its foremost myths gradually collapsing one by one. The industrial growth has failed to visibly close the gap between the rich and the poor countries, thus clearly revealing the lack of connections made between economic growth, industrialization, and development. Neither were social inequalities abolished, although they dimmed during the peak of Fordism, currently reappearing with a particular virulence that is reaching to even a growing sector of the population of the rich countries (Milanovic 2003, 2006; Acemoglu and Robinson 2012). The feeling of deprival of the myriads of commodities offered by the markets—now boosted by globalization—spreads throughout the world. This deprival becomes a powerful motivation that—contrasting with misery and violence—thrusts migratory movements that endanger the positional privileges of the affluent countries. The modes of political organization of the nineteenth and 20th centuries, which accompanied industrial capitalism, show unequivocal signs of exhaustion in front of the constant transference to transnational decision domains of important shares of sovereignty, at the same time that small cultural communities regain their political identities in reaction to the process of globalization. The orthodox paradigms of science—together with its hegemonic core of scientific-technological rationality—have for some time sinking into an irreversible crisis. Crisis also regarding many dominant values, while others appear that some have labeled as postmaterialistic, but that are maybe only expressing the need for a new moder-nity—as claimed by Beck (1998). But it is the ecological crisis what perhaps better depicts the civilization crisis, its severity and its planetary dimension, and what will surely force the adoption of highly relevant changes in the conformation of society. The greenhouse effect, the gap in the ozone layer, the exhaustion of mineral resources and fossil fuels, deforestation, overexploitation, the depletion of water resources, atmospheric pollution, acid rain, erosion and desertification, among others, are tightly linked with the modes of production and consumption brought about by economic growth and industrialization.
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Pojem krízy v environmentálnom myslení. ISBN 978-80-8200-038-5, 2019
Environmental thinking originated during the 20 th century and achieved massive expansion especially in the second half of the century. It developed within the reflection of phenomena in six-ties of the last century and began to be referred to as ecological, later on environmental crisis. Environmental degradation fixed the attention of humanities and social sciences on the issue that was not a centre of their interest for a long time-until then not reflected environmental conditions and aspects of human culture, civilization, moral, law, also political, economic and social organization of society. State of environment that enables the beginning and surviving of civilization as such, as it seems, can not be taken for granted and quite easily vulnerable even by men-strength. Environmental degradation was and still is mostly unwanted side effect of human activities that are primarly focused on preserving life and improving its quality-at least for a part of human population. The concept of crisis is used in connection with environmental devastation approximately since sixties of 20 th century by authors that look at this phenomenon from various, by that time very rare perspectives-philosophical, ethical, historical, theological, cultu-rological, also economic, political, sociological or legal. Processes happening in environment and its quality and composition therefore stopped to be strictly the domain of natural sciences. At the same time, many scientists begun their research in area of environment and reflected their results also from philosophical, ethical , economic or political aspects.
The degrading environment is one of the major discussions of our time. The environmental challenges include acid rains, air pollution, global warming, hazardous waste disposal, ozone depletion, smog, water pollution, overpopulation, rainforest destruction, poverty, and soil erosion. The most affected areas include land, forests, water, the ozone layer, people and the biodiversity. It is because of these challenges that climate change is one of the famous discourses of our time. The main argument in this paper is that the degrading environment, as we know it today, is a consequence of the discourse of modernity. The study, however, creates optimism in the environmental rehabilitating processes because as discourses are constructs, instead of constructing destructively, we can construct constructively.
Abstract:Changes in knowledge dynamic during the time bring to faster and faster changes and development of different concepts is scientific-technological progress. By the current development of society, that is, scientific-technological progress, application of knowledge on different areas of human actions brought revolution changes. The development of human civilization in the future, depending on the position of science and its application, and less than the amount of effort and simple amount of resources that enhance his strength.Scientific and technical development of mankind is directed towards the knowledge society, which in the middle of the action figure and put his knowledge to the wider implementation of the application of information technology.There are four different conceptions in society development, starting from agriculture society, over industrial to informational and knowledge society. In the paper is given brief historical preview of scientific-technological progress, dominated of fields in knowledge society and trends of European research and technological development mission. Large regional differences in the growth of the total population of the Balkans are due before all, the natural increase and migration components that have special significance in the territorial redistribution of the population in ethnically heterogeneous environments. As population growth is a major component of population growth depends on fertility and mortality rates, its values are a good indicator of trends in population movementThis manual we want to make globalization phenomenon closer to the citizens of our country and try to open a discussion about the process that is improving and that only we can affect.The key issue that permeates all the work in the manual is:Do we have the capacity to channel the process of globalization in a way that it allows for the provision of the highest good for the greatest number?We hope that this paper will contribute to a clear perception and understanding of contemporary socio-economic processes in which we participate, to a greater or lesser extent.