The Moral Fabric in Contemporary Societies (Annals of the International Institute of Sociology. New Series, V. 9) PDF
Preview The Moral Fabric in Contemporary Societies (Annals of the International Institute of Sociology. New Series, V. 9)
THE MORAL FABRIC IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SOCIOLOGY The International Institute of Sociology is the oldest continuous sociological association in existence. It was founded in 1893 in Paris by René Worms. Early distinguished members included scholars such as Max Weber, Lujo Brentano, Enrico Ferri, Franklin Giddings, Ludwig Gumplowicz, Achille Loria, Alfred Marshall, Carl Menger, Edward A. Ross, Gustav Schmoller, Georg Simmel, Albion Small, Gabriel Tarde, Edward B. Tylor, Ferdinand Tönnies, Alexandre Tchouprov, Thorstein Veblen, Lester Ward, Sidney and Beatrix Webb, and Wilhelm Wundt. Executive Board 1997-2002 President MasamichiSasaki (Japan) Past President Erwin K. Scheuch ( Germany) Vice Presidents EliezerBen-Rafael (Israel) ElkeKoch-Weser(Italy) GraîynaSkPapska (Poland) Secretary General/ KarenS. Cook (U.S.A.) Treasurer Councillors Pierpaolo Donati (Italy) Ulrike Schuerkens(Germany) DavidSciulli(U.S.A.) Jerzy J. Smolicz (Australia) Michel Wieviorka (France) Auditor EdgarF. Borgatta (U.S.A.) THE ANNALS OF THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SOCIOLOGY NEW SERIES – VOLUME 9 THE MORAL FABRIC IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES EDITED BY GRA¢YNA SKPAPSKA AND ANNAMARIA ORLA-BUKOWSKA WITH COLLABORATION OF KRZYSZTOF KOWALSKI BRILL LEIDEN (cid:127)BOSTON 2003 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Institut international de sociologie. World Congress (35th : 2001 : Kraków, Poland) The moral fabric in contemporary societies / edited by Graîyna SkPapska and Annamaria Orla-Bukowska, with collaboration of Krzysztof Kowalski. p. cm. — (The Annals of the International Institute of Sociology. New series : v. 9) “Proceedings of the 35th Congress of the International Institute of Sociology, held in July 2001 in Kraków, Poland”—P.. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 90-04-13114-0 1. Moral conditions—Congresses. 2. Social norms—Congresses. 3. Civilization, Modern-21st century—Moral and ethical aspects—Congresses. 4. Civilization, Modern-20th century—Moral and ethical aspects—Congresses. 5. Social problems—Congresses. I. SkPapska, Graîyna. II. Orla-Bukowska, Annamaria. III. Kowalski, Krzysztof, 1969—IV. Title. V. Series. HM665.I57 2001 306—dc21 2003049649 ISSN 1568-1548 ISBN 90 04 13114 0 © Copyright 2003 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands CONTENTS Gû S‰, Preface ........................................................ vii SECTION ONE THE MORAL FABRIC OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES: TWO PERSPECTIVES M S, Morality in Contemporary Society .......... 3 Gû S‰, The Moral Fabric in Contemporary Societies: Some Remarks on the Paradigm Shift in Sociological Theory ................................................................ 27 SECTION TWO TRUST IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES P S, Trust: A Cultural Resource ........................ 47 S E, Some Observations on Problems of Trust in Modern Societies: Construction of Trust, Collective Identity, and the Fragility and Continuity of Democratic Regimes .................................................................................. 67 SECTION THREE PROMISES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS: EASTERN EUROPE AFTER COMMUNISM SEEN FROM WITHOUT AND WITHIN M K, Parables of Hope and Disappointment ...... 85 Jˆ ”, Everyday Democracy in the Czech Republic: Disappointments or New Morals in a Time of Neo-Normalization ............................................................ 93 E Z, The Genealogical Search Initiative and Its Soviet Legacy ............................................................ 103 SECTION FOUR DIVIDED WORLD—FACES OF INEQUALITIES G T, Dimensions and Processes of Global Inequalities .............................................................................. 119 vi P M, Postsocialist Transformations and Various Faces of Inequalities in the Divided World .......... 143 SECTION FIVE COPING WITH CORRUPTION J K, Is a Sociology of Corruption Possible? .... 157 V F, The Paths of Italian Corruption ............ 165 M D, Trust-Mistrust in European Democracies .... 175 SECTION SIX THE MORAL SENSE OF MODERNIZATION S E, The Moral Dimensions and Tensions of Modernity .......................................................................... 203 B W, The Cultural Constitution of Modernity ................................................................................ 219 S A A, Modernity, Tradition and the Shi'ite Reformation in Contemporary Iran .................. 241 S K, Literature and the Moral Imagination of Modernity .......................................................................... 263 SECTION SEVEN TERROR, GENOCIDE, AND VIOLENCE E B-R, The De-Civilizing Process .................... 283 K D, “Women, Children, Older People”: Genocide, Warfare, and the Functional Differentiation of Society .................................................................................... 291 N R, Society as a “Morality-Silencing” Force: Primo Levi, Existential Power, and the Concentration Camp .............................................................. 309 N C, Answers to Atrocities ...................................... 335 AFTERWORD K K and A O-B, The Moral Fabric: Diverse Textures in the Postmodern World 357 List of Editors and Contributors .............................................. 375 PREFACE This book presents the proceedings of the 35th Congress of the International Institute of Sociology, held in July 2001 in Kraków, Poland. The Congress title as well as its location were not accidental, and its timing was symbolic. It was held at the beginning of the new millennium in a country that had experienced in the twentieth century the most atrocious crimes against humanity and two totalitarianisms. The first is symbolized by nearby Auschwitz, and as a result of the second the country is currently experiencing an overwhelming and difficult transformation—political, economic and social. The entire region has witnessed the collapse of a system believed to liberate society from poverty and people from their vices, but which instead brought economic and social disaster, and resulted in some, insufficiently diagnosed yet, social deformations and pathologies. Last but not least, the Congress was focused on the universal, most burning social issue: the moral fabric in contemporary societies, the worldviews, norms, values, beliefs and institutions that hold them together, and that reflect their convictions about the “good society” and its enemies. The 35th IIS Congress program was based on an important the- oretical conviction. As we currently realize, the beginning of a new millennium throws new light on naive, and indeed quite droll ideas about the “end of the history,” and the victory of some simplistic versions of liberalism. The very first years of this millennium prove the suspicion that history is neither the accomplice of utopia, nor does it necessarily evolve in a liberal direction. As a matter of fact, this initial period indicates that history cannot go anywhere unless the societies who are its agents have goals or visions which they believe worth following. Such an observation is especially true in Poland, or in Eastern Europe more generally, where society has proved to be the agent of history indeed, and entirely unexpectedly—at least entirely unexpected by the dominant social and political theories— changed its trajectory. Thus, the program of this Congress, and the contents of this book reflect the deep convictions of Eastern European social thinkers and political figures of such format as Vaclav Havel or Jir˘i Patoka in the Czech Republic, Georgy Konrad in Hungary, and many other SKAPSKA_f1_prelims 6/24/03 2:14 PM Page viii viii Eastern European intellectuals that social theory could have a moral foundation and transformative potential, being simultaneously rooted in the real social experiences and life-worlds that give it its most important accountability. The works of the above-mentioned authors heralded a great revival of interest in morality and ethics, in sharp contrast with the end-of-the-century, end-of-the-millennium decadent social philosophies of post modernism, and deconstructivism—the reduction of human communications to language games, social order to “normalization,” and society and its institutions to a system which acts according to its own rules and turns people into its marionettes. This book comprises papers that provide the best evidence of just such a strong conviction of the importance of moral issues for the social sciences. These papers were presented at the Congress ple- nary and podium sessions and discussed during its debates. Thus, the contents of this volume delve into the issues promoting the “good society” project and reflecting the greatest menace to it—all per- ceived from the current, global perspective. The deliberations open with the notion of trust as a foundation of social order, and pro- ceed with the burning issue of economic inequalities in the con- temporary world. Multiple modernities are here discussed as a crucial theoretical answer to simplistic concepts of social development that advocated some culture-less and history-less version of moderniza- tion imposed “from above,” or rather, “from outside,” notwithstanding local cultures and traditions. Also included herein are two debates on the contemporary issues of moral relevance: one devoted to post- communism, the other to corruption. Finally, one of the four ple- nary sessions of the 35th IIS Congress was focused on genocide—the ultimate denial of the “good society” project. The success of the 35th Congress of the International Institute of Socio- logy was due to the efforts of many people and institutions—first and foremost, to the efforts of the then President of the International Institute of Sociology, Professor Masamichi Sasaki; the Local Organizing Committee—especially to Dr. Annamaria Orla-Bukowska and Dr. Krzysztof Kowalski—and the Institute of Sociology of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland. We are very grateful for the generous sponsorship of the Vice-Rector of the Jagiellonian University, Professor Maria Nowakowska, and to the World Bank Office in Poland. The publication of this book has been made possible through the financial SKAPSKA_f1_prelims 6/24/03 2:14 PM Page ix ix support of the World Bank Office in Poland, the International Institute of Sociology, the Institute of Sociology of the Jagiellonian University, and Professor Masamichi Sasaki. Graûyna Sk[pska Vice-President of the International Institute of Sociology Chairperson of the Local Organizing Committee
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