| Globalisation, in particular the processes of cultural and political interaction involved, raises a range of issues, like those of identity, ethnicity, the nation-state, environment, inequality. Such issues are discussed in the fields of cultural theory and philosophy in debates on, for instance, modernity and emancipation , the knowledge society , the multicultural society , state and civil society , problems of liberalism and freedom', and 'global discourses'. The programme Globalisation, Identity and Pluralism of the section Practical Philosophy in the Faculty of Philosophy gives these questions central attention. This new programme is part of the Agricola Research School that has "Cultural Change" as its central theme. The emphasis of this research will be on conceptual and normative questions, and on the roles which knowledge and technology, and intellectuals play in the processes of globalisation. Four more specific issues can be seen to stand out in these research activities: an empirical-philosophical research into the question of ethnic identity construction in Western countries, a historico-philosophical reconstruction of crucial debates on pluralism and multicultural relations in Western societies, the role of knowledge and technology in processes of development and emancipation, and the complex status of civil society in the world of international politics and in political theory. |
