To conclude our long-lasting reading group on Debt: the First 5,000 Years, we invited Barry Gills for the second and final meeting of Debt in Discussion.
BARRY GILLS
Barry K Gills is Professor of Development Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland and founding Editor and Editor in Chief of Globalizations journal and the Rethinking Globalizations book series (Routledge). He is also a founding member of the Extractivisms and Alternatives Initiative (ExAlt) and the Peoples Sovereignty Network.
The Great Implosion and The Great Awakening
“We are living in The Great Implosion,” says Barry K. Gills. “The world as we know it is literally breaking down: climate crisis, systemic crisis of global capitalism and neoliberal globalization, and the enduring effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic.”
We also have a tremendous capacity for reflexive learning and communication. Perhaps the highest in history. Radical transformative praxis, he argues, is our only hope for the future. As the existing order begins to disintegrate a new social order must be built through deploying our collective radical imagination. We shall need new forms of collective human consciousness; a new type of global social covenant; new forms of appropriate technology; and new forms of appropriate lifestyle.
The combination of all three crises brings the hitherto accelerating linear time of modernity into deceleration, into a pause. This space provides a time of awakening … to the deep malaise of our civilization. This awakening will generate a realization of common interests, producing social compassion and mutual aid. The crisis is producing a realization that a different social reality is possible. Where the experience of collective being starts to take precedence over egoistic individualism.
A deep restoration of the spiritual inner life of humanity is required. A deep restoration of the awareness of the necessity for maintaining ecological balance within the context of earth system dynamics. A deep restoration of the ethics of harmony with the web of life, including not only all species of creatures but also with the water, the oceans, the forests, and the soils of the earth, in which we are deeply embedded and mutually interdependent. A deep restoration of the Culture of Peace, including social peace, founded on bonds of kindness and mutual respect; and the final realization of international peace. A deep restoration of the spirit of human solidarity and unity. New forms of social solidarity and global solidarity and internationalism are emerging: we must move now rapidly towards a post-nationalist mentality, based on our common human interests. A deep restoration of the idea and practices of the Commons: strengthening the principle of collective interests to take full precedence over egoistic individualism. The idea of the commons in the ‘economy’ and in society will bring into being a new form of economy, embedding greater equality and democracy, with decentralized democratic decision making, and post-patriarchal equality throughout society.
Join us as Professor Barry K. Gills walks us through this new reality. Now is the time to awaken. A different reality is possible. It is we who must respond to the crisis and collectively create a different future.
Adapted from “Deep Restoration: From the Great Implosion to the Great Awakening”
http://thecommonalts.com/deep-restoration-from-the-great-implosion-to-the-great-awakening/
