GLOBALISATION AS A PHILOSOPHICAL AND POLITICAL PROJECT IN CONTEMPORARY WESTERN THEORY

Abstract

The article provides a conceptual analysis of globalization as a philosophical and political project within contemporary Western theory. An approach to globalization is substantiated that goes beyond its interpretation as merely a socio-economic or technological process, viewing it instead as an intellectual paradigm that shapes the conditions of contemporary thought and determines the transformation of the epistemological, ontological, and normative foundations of Western civilization. It is shown that within Western discourse globalization functions as a form of the self-reflection of modernity, through which the limits of rationality, universalism, and progress are reconsidered.
Based on an analysis of key theoretical approaches in contemporary social philosophy and political theory (A. Giddens, U. Beck, Z. Bauman, J.-F. Lyotard, G. Deleuze, P. Sloterdijk, A. Appadurai, H. K. Bhabha), it is established that globalization transforms the very coordinates of political and cultural being, shifting them toward mobility, relationality, and deterritorialized forms of sociality. It is demonstrated that contemporary interpretations of globalization increasingly move away from economic determinism and focus on the analysis of transformations of knowledge, identity, and power.
In the political dimension, globalization appears as a process of rethinking the mechanisms of influence and the legitimation of power, manifested in a shift from coercion to communicative, symbolic, and cultural forms of interaction. It is shown that the concepts of soft power and global communication reflect this paradigm shift, in which power is increasingly exercised through the production of meanings and normative orientations.
Particular attention is paid to the ethical dimension of globalization. It is argued that in contemporary Western philosophy it is regarded as a moral challenge associated with issues of responsibility, mutual recognition, and intercultural dialogue. In this context, globalization is interpreted as an attempt to reconcile the universal claims of rationality with the pluralism of cultural forms and values. The article concludes that globalization as a philosophical and political project is an open and internally contradictory process that defines the intellectual horizons of contemporary Western theory.