A Liberal Order Beyond Earth? Civil Sphere, “The Culture” and the Future of Liberalism

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14230%2F20%3A00117697" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14230/20:00117697 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://sociologica.hse.ru/en/2020-19-4/430489151.html" target="_blank" >https://sociologica.hse.ru/en/2020-19-4/430489151.html</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17323/1728-192x-2020-4-36-60" target="_blank" >10.17323/1728-192x-2020-4-36-60</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

A Liberal Order Beyond Earth? Civil Sphere, “The Culture” and the Future of Liberalism

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

Starting with George Orwell's liberal problem of meaning, this article investigates liberalism as cultural structure and myth, drawing on the theory of civil sphere by Jeffrey C. Alexander and the science fiction novels of Ian M. Banks. Following Alexander, it is argued that liberal societies are built around a sacred core described by the cultural structures of the civil sphere, which are structures of meaning as well as feeling. Civil discourses and movements in liberal (and not so liberal) societies mobilize powerful symbols of the sacred and profane and are thus able to inspire an almost religious devotion. The article then continues to explore the meaning structure, cultural contradictions and possible future of the liberal order discussing Bank's Culture series. These novels are set in the borderlands of "the Culture", a galactic civilization and liberal utopia. It is precisely this utopian setting, which allows Banks to probe the internal dilemmas of liberalism, for example between pacifism and interventionism, while addressing issues of contemporary relevance, such as the liberal problem of meaning, the al-lure of authoritarianism or the social status of artificial intelligence. With their literary imagination , science fiction writers construct "a myth of the future" (Banks), which may often reflect the myths of their time, but which can also-as in the case of Banks-reflect on those myths, their implications and contradictions. Finally, the fictional possibilities of social order in science fiction can be a valuable source for our imagination as sociologists contemplating the very possibility of social order.

Název v anglickém jazyce

A Liberal Order Beyond Earth? Civil Sphere, “The Culture” and the Future of Liberalism

Popis výsledku anglicky

Starting with George Orwell's liberal problem of meaning, this article investigates liberalism as cultural structure and myth, drawing on the theory of civil sphere by Jeffrey C. Alexander and the science fiction novels of Ian M. Banks. Following Alexander, it is argued that liberal societies are built around a sacred core described by the cultural structures of the civil sphere, which are structures of meaning as well as feeling. Civil discourses and movements in liberal (and not so liberal) societies mobilize powerful symbols of the sacred and profane and are thus able to inspire an almost religious devotion. The article then continues to explore the meaning structure, cultural contradictions and possible future of the liberal order discussing Bank's Culture series. These novels are set in the borderlands of "the Culture", a galactic civilization and liberal utopia. It is precisely this utopian setting, which allows Banks to probe the internal dilemmas of liberalism, for example between pacifism and interventionism, while addressing issues of contemporary relevance, such as the liberal problem of meaning, the al-lure of authoritarianism or the social status of artificial intelligence. With their literary imagination , science fiction writers construct "a myth of the future" (Banks), which may often reflect the myths of their time, but which can also-as in the case of Banks-reflect on those myths, their implications and contradictions. Finally, the fictional possibilities of social order in science fiction can be a valuable source for our imagination as sociologists contemplating the very possibility of social order.

Druh

J_SC - Článek v periodiku v databázi SCOPUS

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

50400 - Sociology

Projekt

—

Návaznosti

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Rok uplatnění

2020

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název periodika

Russian Sociological Review

ISSN

1728-192X

e-ISSN

1728-1938

Svazek periodika

19

Číslo periodika v rámci svazku

4

Stát vydavatele periodika

RU - Ruská federace

Počet stran výsledku

25

Strana od-do

36-60

Kód UT WoS článku

000605028500003

EID výsledku v databázi Scopus

2-s2.0-85100046604