IGC Summary
Week 1
Article 1: The End of History by Francis Fukuyama
- Argues society reached its endpoint after liberal democracy and free-market capitalism
- Says after the cold war, there would be no more major conflicts between competing
ideologies because the best form of government has been settled: liberal democracy,
therefore it does not need to be fought upon
- Triumph of liberal democracy: after the decline of authoritarian ideologies like communism,
fascism ect., liberal democracy is accepted and it is the best system
- End of major ideological conflicts: Fukuyama argues world’s most major ideological conflicts
has been resolved and liberal democracy combined with capitalism is the most successful
- Influence of Hegel and Marx: Marx argues history is dialectical, driven by opposing ideas and
will ultimately lead to human freedom. Fukuyama agrees with this but instead of “humans
turning back to communism as a prior form”-Marx, Fukuyama says this was proven wrong by
the collapse of communism
- Economic and political convergence: societies are converging towards liberal democracy as
the most practical and morally justifiable system, even the ones that were not democratic at
the time
- Criticism of other systems: Fukuyama rejects that authoritarian and nationalistic regimes like
China and Middle East will represent the future of governance. He says these are temporary
regional deviations
- Future conflicts: Fukuyama recognized there will be future conflicts but says these will be
caused by local issues, ethnic tensions, or the slow adaptation of liberal democracy. However,
these won’t challenge the overall dominance of liberal democratic ideology.
Article 2: The Clash of Civilizations by Samuel P. Huntington
- Contrasts with Fukuyama
- Future global conflicts will be caused by cultural/civilizational differences rather than
ideological/economical factors.
- He outlines several major civilizations and says the interaction between these civilizations,
especially in their fault lines (where different cultures meet, like country borders or places
where different civilizations values clash like Jerusalem), will be future of conflicts
o Exp: western world and non-western world (like: china, Islamic) will have challenges
that emphasize importance of cultural identity shaping global politics
- Criticizes over this thesis: oversimplifies international relations
- Praises over this thesis: good insight into culture in global politics
- Civilization as the primary unit of identity: Huntington argues world is divided into major
civilizations that are defines by cultural entities, religion, language, history and shared
traditions. He predicts these civilizations will replace the current “nation-state” as the main
actor in international relations
, -
- Cultural identity as the future of conflicts: after the post-cold war era, people will identify
more strongly with their nation and religion, which will be the primary source of conflict
- The decline of western influence: even though west is still at dominance, china and Islamic
countries will gain more power. The efforts by west to impose its values (like democracy and
human rights) will be resisted upon since these values are not universally shared.
- Confucian-Islamic connection: there will be a potential alliance between Confucian (Chinese)
and Islamic civilizations in opposition to the west. They share ideologies like resisting the
west, which makes this alliance a threat to the west
- The role of modernization: modernization is not necessarily westernization. Non-westerns
can adopt west’s technology, economy and democracy but will not give up their cultural or
religious values.
- The west vs. the rest: Huntington argues the world divides into the west and the rest. But
west should accept their dominance will end some day and learn to co-exist. Trying to impose
western values to the rest will result in more conflict rather than global unity.
- Kin-country syndrome: when a country in a civilization gets in conflict with another
civilization, the countries within the same civilizations will take the shared civilization’s side
rather than the other civilization, even if it conflicts with political and economic interest.
Lecture:
- Globalization: compression of time and space
- Contextualization: to try and understand other people’s stories
- Geert Hofstede developed 6 dimensions of culture “culture is a programme of mind which
distinguishes members of one group from another”
o Individualism vs collectivism: are people dependent on being members of larger
groups?
o Power distance: do powerful members of organizations and institutions
accept/expect power to be distributed unequally?
o Femininity-masculinity: how is violence perceived? How is the use of force?
o Uncertainty avoidance: how comfortable a society is with uncertainty
High: these societies like rules bc they are not comfortable with uncertainty
so they feel safe
Low: open to new ideas, don’t mind taking risks
o short term/long term orientation: how society deals with change
short term: focus on present or close future. They value traditions. Stick to
what worked in the past. Resist change.
Long term: focus on future. Planning. Hard work for future rewards. More
adaptable to change
o Indulgence/restraint: does a society enjoy life (indulgence) or oppress social norms
(restraint)
- Issues:
o Culture as a fixed entity
, o Culture as a homogenous entity (there can be differences in location of country)
o Reinforces stereotypes
- World values survey: another attempt of classifying cultures, highlights two dimensions in
culture
o Traditional vs secular-rational values: to what extend is there an emphasis on
religion, traditional family values and authority
o Survival vs self-expression values: is there an emphasis on physical security rather
than self-expression and quality of life?
- Francis Bacon: Novum Organum: Baconian method: tips for understanding each other, the
four idols are common mistakes or traps in thinking that prevents this
o Idol of tribe: seeing patterns that do not exist
o Idol of cave: how are personal experiences, upbringing, and culture shape how we
see things. Its like living in a cave that limits your view. This created an echo chamber
where you filter out things that do not fit your beliefs
o Idol of marketplace: how we use language. We assume that words can perfectly
describe the world but they can be misleading
o Idol of theater: how we are influenced by popular ideas or trends. We get stuck in
systems
- Cognitive biases: mental shortcuts to simplify information
o Unacceptability bias: tendency to reject or avoid information because they contrasts
with your morality or culture. You dismiss evidence simply bc it is inappropriate or
uncomfortable
o Conformation bias: when someone specifically looks for the information that
supports their own ideas
- Rationality: the quality of making decisions based on clear thought or reason
- The most significant figures in history are all men and mostly American according to a
survey, so this survey is biased (number 1. Is jesus according to Christian perception, since
Christians are the most populated it is in the world)
- Blasphemy: disrespect towards something sacred
- Belief: conviction of the truth of some statement, they fill the space of unknown so we can
sustain our sense of purpose)
- Cognitive dissonance: the mental conflict that occurs when beliefs are contradicted by new
information (when this happens people reject, explain away or avoid the new info)
- Social storytelling: the form of storytelling with a function of education to help develop a
feeling of belonging to a society. Includes:
o Traditions: stories, beliefs and behaviors that have been a part of culture of a group
for a long time
Exp: Kecak: A ritual in bali where groups are seated in a circle and make a
sound, it was actually only 100 years old and was developed by a german
tourist to attract attention tho
o Fairytales: tales that involve marvelous elements and occurrences
Exp: Cinderella, puss-in-boots
“once upon a time”
Real life fairy tales: a commoner marrying someone in royal family makes
people believe that could be their life too, even though it is unrealistic
o Legends: traditional story(s) about a particular person or place. They may include
supernatural beings but are told as a matter of history
