Rousseau, Herder ja me:

globalisaation ja ”glokaalin” kysymyksiä

• Liisa Saariluoma Turun yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74627

Abstract

Rousseau, Herder and Us: Questions of Globalization and “the Glocal”

As in economics and politics it is referred to Globalization as the newest phase of the exploitation of the economies of poor countries (imperialism): in cultural studies when we talk about globalization, we mean distancing ourselves from the euro-centric perspective and replacing euro-centricity with the consciousness of different and locally formed (local) cultures, which contribute to a common global culture (together “glocal”). Within the context of both economic and cultural imperialism, Europeans’ inclination to present their own (enlightened) thinking and culture as the criterion of thinking and culture in general has been questioned with criticism. This article, without denying the justification of criticism, aims at exploring the main contents of European Enlightenment, which have had influence upon our ways of the comprehension of society and culture (and how literary studies has been comprehended) for a couple of centuries, and which are still essential within the contemporary development of globalization. Here are Rousseau’s concepts of autonomy and reason as the foundations of the political action, and Herder’s concepts of man’s social and cultural embeddedness and of historical dissimilarity.