On June 21, 2023 Seminar "Images and Meanings of the Future in Conditions of Civilizational Transit (on the Example of African and Eastern Countries)"
THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND HIGHER EDUCATION
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
The Department for Global Problems and International Relations
INSTITUTE FOR AFRICAN STUDIES
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30/1 ул. Спиридоновка, Москва, 123001 |
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30/1 Spiridonovka str., Moscow, 123001 |
On June 21, 2023, the Centre for Civilizational and Regional Studies (CCRS) held a seminar "Images and Meanings of the Future in Conditions of Civilizational Transit (on the Example of African and Eastern Countries)".
Opening the seminar, Doctor of History, head if the CCRS Igor Sledzevsky drew attention to the important and growing role in modern historical knowledge of the images of history. If at the theoretical level, historical thinking operates primarily with scientific, objectivist concepts and categories, then at the level of holistic and visual historical representations (concepts), its main content and formative element are holistic images of historical facts, time and space of history, creating holistic pictures-representations. history as the initial and obligatory condition and stage of the semantic construction of historical knowledge. The role of images of the past as a means of forming and transmitting historical memory to the extent of its relevance in the current life of society is obvious. But images of the future also have a special semantic meaning. Presented visually, although not always visually, the image of the future represents processes that have not yet manifested themselves, but are possible and expected, expresses and consolidates the foresight of the future, just as the image of the past expresses the memory of the past time.
The image / concept of the future acquires a new and very capacious meaning in line with modern (synergistic) interpretations of the transitional stages of history as periods of a chaotic state of society, leading it to a new stable state of development (attractor). In line with the synergetic approach, the state and dynamics of the images of the future can be considered as an integral indicator of the dynamics of the stability/instability of the social system: the disintegration and absence of such images is a critical point of historical transition; the choice of a new image of the future is a critical (bifurcation) point of transition; implementation of the concept underlying the chosen image as a macrohistorical project that links the goals/reasons for the further development of society with turning points - attractors of its history. Such an understanding of the dynamics of the images of the future is very relevant for modern transitional societies in Africa and the East in the context of widely unfolding since the end of the twentieth century. tense and critical processes of confrontation between Western and Eastern civilizations, transitive civilizational processes of the Islamic and African revival, the spreading idea of the diversity of pictures of the world and the plurality of models of historical knowledge and historical science. The main task of the seminar is to present and reveal on the concrete material of the countries of Africa and the East the semantic concepts / constructs of images of the future in the context of modern processes of world civilizational transit.
In his report “Images and Symbols of the “African Renaissance”, Ph.D. in Philosophy, Leading Research Fellow, Associate Professor, Aida Moseiko spoke about the stages of formation and development of the idea of images of the rebirth of Africa. Back in the 19th century Edward Blyden formulated the idea of a “new Africa”, the images of which were “features of the African personality”, “Africa for Africans”. In the first half of the twentieth century. ideas and images of negritude developed, elevating the features of African culture and mentality: sensual-emotional, highly spiritual, opposing the cold rationality of the West. Pan-Africanist ideas and images developed in parallel. Kwame Nkrumah continued to develop the image of the "African personality", and also put forward the idea-image of the "United States of Africa". Images of rebirth - the Renaissance - found their continuation in South Africa in the reports of TaboMbeki and in discussions. The speaker paid special attention to the terms "Renaissance" and "Renaissance" and the images that express the essence of the concept of the rebirth of Africa. In African cultures and languages there is no concept of "revival" (renaissance) and equivalent terms. There is a word similar in meaning "mayibuye", that is, "come back", as well as images symbolizing the transition to the future while preserving traditions.
In the report, Ph.D. in Psychology, Senior Research Fellow of CCRS Elena Kharitonova "Images of the future of Africa: dreams and reality: cities, projects (in the context of the problem of post-coloniality)" said that the stories generated by colonialism and closely interconnected with it are very diverse. The first is situations of revenge, the second is situations of solidarity between peoples who have fallen victim to colonial regimes or racial discrimination, and the third is very powerful and diverse futurological projects united by the African dream. These projects may seem like a utopia, but at the same time, they very clearly reflect the public mood among the formerly oppressed peoples. The report focuses on futurological projects, which are also diverse. A specific example is given - the construction in Senegal, 100 km from Dakar, of the "city of the future" - Akon City, the idea of which is embodied by the American-Senegalese rapper Akon. The project started in 2018 and the first stone was laid two years later. The architectural project was developed by the architect Hussein Bakri from Abu Dhabi, and the money for the project is almost completely found. The cost of the project is estimated at $6 billion. Some of them, namely $2 billion, were invested by Alian Damala Thiam (Akon) himself. The land was donated to Akon by President Maki Sall, a 2,000-acre site 100 kilometers from Dakar, Senegal's capital. The main idea and post-colonial mission of this project: the city will open new opportunities for all African Americans facing racial discrimination. The 2063 Agenda, adopted in 2015 by the African Union, where the details and prospects of the African future are carefully worked out, can also be considered a futurological post-colonial project that embodies Africans' dreams of what is due, despite the existing.
The report "NEOM - the city of the Future in the Context of Reforms in Saudi Arabia" by Ph.D. in History, Senior Research Fellow of CCRS, Naima Neflyasheva was devoted to the analysis of the prerequisites for the emergence of the NEOM city project, its future structure, and implementation problems. The speaker noted that NEOM belongs to the category of Smart City. The emergence of the NEOM project is in line with the KSA's Vision 2030 vision and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's efforts to transform the insular, oil-dependent kingdom into a modern, moderately Islamic country open to the world with a diversified economy. It is assumed that the city-state with an area of 26,500 square kilometers will be built in the province of Tabuk, on the borders with Jordan and Egypt, and is located at 500 km. picturesque coastline. The project budget is $500 billion. The fact that 10% of world trade already passes through the Red Sea, and the future NEOM separates only 4 hours of flight from 40% of the globe, already creates advantages for it. NEOM is conceived as an energy-efficient global hub for trade, innovation, and knowledge. Some details of the city - flying taxis, seeding clouds to get heavy rain, robot maids, robot dinosaurs, holographic teachers for children, glowing sand, an artificial moon, etc. - make it a city of the future. Naima Neflyasheva spoke about the LINE complex, called the legacy of the civilizational revolution, and its architectural features, including the urbanism of weightlessness. The speaker spoke about the problems of the implementation of the NEOM project - economic (lack of funds for the implementation of the project), internal political (protests due to the eviction of 20 thousand people of the Khuveitat tribe from their places of traditional residence), cultural and civilizational (the proposed sale of alcohol in NEOM, the emergence of new rights women and, in general, the change in women's discourse in the KSA).
Fyodor Shemyakin., architect, a post-graduate student of the Moscow Institute of Architecture, made a presentation “Architecture of the “non-Western” world in a civilizational context: - The image of the future on the ruins of the present. Projects of the international architectural competition Memory - RegatheringSyria; - From the Age of Machines to the Age of Life: Civilizational Transition in a Global Context (on the example of the concept of the architect Kisho Kurokawa).
The speaker spoke about the architectural competition "Memory: Recreating Syria", dedicated to finding ideas for creating Syria from scratch, returning the lost, and reuniting the Syrian people through architecture. The architectural object in the heart of the Old City in Aleppo was supposed to be a symbol of compromise and hope for restoration. During the speech, the author analyzed the projects of the contest participants and their concepts. Fyodor Shemyakin presented his project at the Scientific and Educational Memorial Center in the Old City of Aleppo. The main task facing the author was to propose an architectural solution, on the one hand, reflecting the events of the past years that caused enormous damage to the urban space, on the other hand, carrying a utilitarian function in the present, organically fitting into the urban context, while forming this image of the future, overcoming the trauma of the past. In the second part of his report, Fyodor Shemyakin analyzed the concept of the famous Japanese architect K. Kurokawa, within which he considered the twentieth century. as the "Age of Machines", logocentrism, and Eurocentrism, the ideal of which is a universality that destroys cultures and identities. In contrast to it, in the 21st century, the "Century of Life", this ideal of universality, according to K. Kurokawa, should be replaced by a symbiosis of different cultures, and their equal and organic coexistence.
Olga Shemyakina , candidate of historical sciences, researcher Department of the History of Russia until the beginning of the 19th century, made a presentation "Ruins as a manifestation of the present and a projection of the future." In her opinion, the ruins, as material fragments of the past, are an occasion to turn to intangible heritage, which should become part of the visual work of an architect who sets himself the task of overcoming purely functional tasks in design. Museumification of the ruins, according to Olga Shemyakin, it is logical to associate with the manifestation of the past, which in the present represents the previous political and ideological, and semantic heritage. Thus, the past is not forgotten and not repressed, but does it remain in the zone of dialogue? The immersion of the ruins into structures of long duration makes it possible to overcome the boundaries of the discrete-time of the existence of polities and go out during geopolitical, natural, and climatic constants, as well as the ongoing transfer of the ideological heritage of civilizations, in the zone of intersection of which modern Syria was and is. And this makes it possible to raise the question of, for example, how the ancient heritage, understood broadly as a civilization of knowledge, streamlining political life, which is the embodiment of the collective will of society, is present in the modern Arab world, and also to raise the question of how the legacy of the imperial past of the great civilizations in the zone of which Syria was located, has an impact on the coexistence of various cultural communities in the present.
Yakov Shemyakin, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Chief Researcher Fellow of Institute for Latin American Studies RAS, made a presentation “The problem of civilizational transit in the light of the “iconic” turn in the humanities”.
One of several "turns" that determined the situation in the field of world humanitarian knowledge (linguistic, cognitive, etc.) was the so-called. "iconic" turn, fixing the fact that the focus of attention of scientists and thinkers in the late XX - early XXI centuries. turned out to be an image problem. In this sense, the topic of this seminar, the speaker noted, is the main "trend" that determines the dynamics of the processes unfolding in the spiritual space of the planet. The “iconic” turn is of particular importance for researchers of non-European civilizations, who have long since realized that it is impossible to limit the methodological tools to concepts in the study of these civilizations. In search of methodological tools capable of adequately reflecting the reality that was and is the main object of research of the author of the report, namely, the reality of Latin America, he turned to the experience of Orientalists, (Shutsky, Grigorieva, etc.) put forward the concept of "mental image", i.e. a special cognitive construction that combines the features of a concept and an image. Summarizing both his own research experience and the experience of his colleagues, the author stated that it is precisely this construction that best suits the tasks of analyzing the reality not only of the East but also of Latin America (as well as Russia, by the way).
The concept of mental image, is based on the simultaneous use of two main intellectual strategies, "right hemisphere" (focused on the knowledge of the object of study as a whole with the help of emotional-figurative means) and "left hemisphere" (based on the analytical division of this object) is especially important when considering the topic of archaism as one of the three main paradigms of the universal, along with the legacy of the first axial time (according to K. Jaspers) and the second axial time, the era of modernization (according to K. Jaspers, Shmuel Aizenshtadt, etc.). As it was established in the course of comparative civilizational studies, the dialogue of the above three paradigms of the universal and local dimensions of the existence of one or another cultural and historical community is the basis of the dialogical fabric of the sociality of all civilizations. In the conditions of the civilizational "frontier" to which both Latin America and Russia belong, the archaic paradigm of the universal plays a much more significant role than in the West. The differences with the great civilizations of the East are less pronounced, but they are present here as well.
Ph.D. in Economics, Head of the Centre for the Study of the Countries of North Africa and the Horn of Africa of the IAfr RAS Andrey Tkachenko spoke in the discussion. He noted that Africa has many faces and this predetermines the kaleidoscopic images and meanings of the present and future continent, dozens of peoples inhabiting it, and hundreds of ethnic groups, various religious beliefs, and communities. With such diversity, which is not something frozen “for centuries”, but, on the contrary, is dynamically updated under the influence of globalization of economic and socio-political processes, powerful migration flows, the existing single information space, and other factors, an extensive evolving, “living kaleidoscope" of images and meanings. With all the diversity, Andrey Tkachenko can be reduced to several fundamental images and meanings - Eurocentric and (or) Afrocentric properties. Among them stand out "revival", "renaissance" v/s "regression", "decline". In the last period, over 1-2 decades, a vector of decline and stagnation appeared in a large group of countries. In another group are those African countries that have demonstrated, although not quite stable, relatively high, in comparison with the world average, growth rates of the key indicator - GDP, which characterizes clear signs of civilizational progress, (perhaps) a harbinger of the African renaissance. Progress in overcoming underdevelopment, social "diseases" (unemployment, corruption, etc.), in the formation of a more transparent, competitive, more efficient government, and political system indicates one of the important vectors of Africa's development, perhaps a gradual rooting, by no means single-line, upgrade process, upgrade.
