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carry out in the 1990s, may characterize the African conceptions. The German historian
future. The political aim has been to guaran- Hans-Ulrich Wehler recently stated that the
tee respect for law and order. Yet, it seems to prevalence of socio-economic and political
be certain, as Shaw underlines, that future constellations in social history should be
social transformations and global develop- replaced by the prevalence of cultural life-
ment will continue to be characterized by worlds that govern the construction of social
conflicts (Shaw, 2003: 75). reality (1998: 9). This reflection on the cul-
tural construction of life-worlds in a global
society seems to be a precondition for the
analysis of discourses on economic global-
THE NOTION OF COMPETITION IN ization in non-European societies. In this
TRANSFORMATION STUDIES connection, it is not the image of globaliza-
tion that is in the foreground, but the construc-
With the growing globalization of the last tion and development of worldviews deriving
decades, the breakdown of the communist from cultural contexts. These worldviews
states and the spread of the neo-liberal determine the result of cultural dialogues and
economic credo, the notion of competition the outcome of globalization processes in dif-
began to be discussed in the sociology ferent world regions.
of development. The discussion centred on It can no longer be denied that today all
whether the economic ideology linked to the cultures are exposed to a new historical
notion could be an impetus for development process of change and that elites and masses
in countries socially and culturally very are challenged to confront the outcomes
different from the Western core countries. of global processes with creative answers,
As there was no real alternative to the Western protest, selective adaptation, etc. The era of
economic ideal of competition, economists the uncritical acceptance of Western ele-
and sociologists began to ask whether the ments has been abandoned by non-Western
notion of economic competition could be cultures for a greater consciousness of self.
integrated into social, cultural and economic Nevertheless, global players pressure local
systems in Asia, Latin America and Africa. and regional cultures to adopt Western
The answer depended on the social structure definitions of adaptation and efficiency. The
of societies in the different world regions. world market, defined by competitive capi-
In this context, it is necessary to define the talism, the importance of private property
notion of culture, which will make it possible and the virtue of individual aspirations for
to show the importance of cultural elements gain, has become the dominant world
in economic endeavours. Culture can be con- system, a system that was introduced by
ceived as a system of common experiences colonial processes in non-Western societies
on the basis of which one can understand during the last several centuries. World
one’s own group and confront other groups. cultures are shaped by their adaptability to
Culture is thus a network of meaning struc- global economic processes. The criterion for
tures that help social actors to orient their selection as an acceptable culture is being
ideas toward a common worldview. These able to accommodate capital investment and
values facilitate human actions in concrete capital use (cf. Tetzlaff, 2000: 41).
situations. Culture orients the actions of Experience has shown that societies that
human beings. It is obvious that some cul- possess structural equivalencies to Western
tures are better suited to active participation societal models have been preferred by
in global phenomena than others. In the transnational enterprises, and societies where
tradition of Max Weber, a Confucian per- solidarity and equality are high social values
formance ideal, for instance, is more adapted have been avoided. In its World Culture
to economic competition than egalitarian Report (1998: 283), UNESCO shows that in