Global capitalism is effecting changes in human life as momentous as those that occurred during the Neolithic Revolution, the Axial Age (700-300 BC), and the modern era post-1500, when industrial capitalism, state power, and science reshaped the civilized world. The transformation is paradoxical, however. Science and technology ensure material progress but the market promotes cultural obsolescence and erodes belief in the Enlightenment ideals that inspired the quest for progress. In Western democracies, liberty and equality are proving irreconcilable, citizens becoming demoralized, fraternity fractured; meanwhile despotic Eurasian states are recycling old faiths and concocting neo-imperialist ideologies. These contradictions must be confronted if the cultural values that sustain civilized life are to be conserved.
Harry Redner, formerly Reader in Politics at Monash University held endowed chairs and visiting professorships in the USA, Germany, France and Israel. An interdisciplinary philosopherâembracing cultural history, sociology of science, and political and social theoryâhis recent books include: Beyond Civilization; Totalitarianism, Globalization, Colonialism; The Tragedy of European Civilization; Triumph and Tragedy of the Intellectuals; and Quintessence of Dust: The Science of Matter and the Philosophy of Mind.
part 1 West and East
ââIntroduction to Part 1
1âThe Ages and Stages of History
â1âLand and Sea Civilizations
â2âOriental Despotism
â3âWestern Modernity
â4âThe Collapse of Europe
â5âCivilization in America
2âThe Resurgence of the East
â1âCapitalist Despotism
â2âThe Eurasian Axis
â3âLeviathan versus Behemoth
part 2 Politics
ââIntroduction to Part 2
3âEgalitarianism and Socialism
â1âAn Outline of Western Republican Politics
â2âThe Exceptional Nature of Egalitarianism
â3âThe Failure of Egalitarianism in Socialist Societies
â4âThe Failure of Egalitarianism in Liberal Societies
4âFraternity and Nationalism
â1âGerman Nationalism
â2âThe Birth of Nazism from the Spirit of Classicism
â3âWagner, Nietzsche and Heidegger
â4âThe New Nationalisms in the World
part 3 Ethics and Ethos
ââIntroduction to Part 3
5âManners, Morals and Laws
â1âSuccess and Succession
â2âThe Austen Paradox
â3âThe Rule of Law
â4âDemoralization, a Short History
6âThe Death of Culture
â1âSport as Surrogate Culture
â2âThe Sportification of Culture
â3âCulture and the Media
â4âCulture and the Internet
ââAfterword â in the Twilight of a Cultural Dark Age
Bibliography
Index
Academics and post-graduate students in the humanities and social sciences generally and in particular in Social Theory, Historical Sociology, Cultural studies, History of Ideas, Political Theory and Civilizational Studies.