From Civilisational Crisis to Revolutionary Transformation?
Strong perceptions of crises have been in the making since the 1970s. The plurality of crises results from dynamic transformations of politico-economic, societal and environmental conditions. Policies adapting to these crises decisively shaped the ‘neoliberal turn’ of Western societies, responding to economic, social and technological changes in ambiguous ways: they combine deregulation with new modes of control and certain civilising efforts. In this context, the global expansion of ostensibly free-market capitalism, accompanied by relocations of industries and new directions of technological innovation, has played a key role. This configuration affects global civilisational dynamics, now headed either towards further degradation of humanity and the planet or to the generation of something new. The question is whether a revolutionary transformation of both capitalism and civilisation could be on the horizon.