Final Report Summary - WORLDBRIDGES (Philosophy of History and Globalisation of Knowledge. Cultural Bridges Between Europe and Latin America.)
Bridges are built to exchange not only goods but also knowledge, bringing together historical heritage and ethical-political projects. International cooperation can only be fruitful if it is based on real dialogue, interaction and engagement, in this specific case that of Europe, Euro-Mediterranean and Latin America. WORLDBRIDGES consists in facilitating the exchange of ideas and experiences between philosophers and historians concerned with different aspects of globalisation, specifically using tools of history and philosophy to actively study globalising processes. The main contribution of this project is to examine and stress the fundamental role that knowledge has played and should continue to play in globalisation, in the so-called “society of knowledge”, supported by contemporary theories of epistemic justification in the study of history. To provide the joint production of knowledge, WORLDBRIDGES aims to strengthen existing cooperation, connect new partners and integrate new approaches as well as new research areas. With this aim in mind, the exchange scheme WORLDBRIDGES is designed to promote the following scientific activities: networking, joint research and publication, training and dissemination. The beneficiaries are the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas in Madrid, the University of Potsdam, the Technical University of Dresden and Istanbul University. Partner organisations in third countries are the Centro de Investigaciones Científicas in Buenos Aires and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
The first important achievement of the project consisted in establishing a constructive dialogue between historians and philosophers. This has evolved mainly around the issue of the political and philosophical dimensions of knowledge production. The historians and historians of science (IU, UNAM, UP) have brought into the project the empirical data and historically situated analyses of globalisation of knowledge (circulation of models, urbanisation, nuclear energy, genetics, etc.). The philosophers of science and of history (TUD, CSIC, CIF, UNAM) have stressed the need to fight the lack of dialogue and interconnection due to the increasing institutional and intellectual fragmentation. They have pointed to the fact that this lack of communication has serious political and social implications and have included a special focus on gender perspective in the research. Together we are aiming to address the universal and local dimensions of knowledge in a way that would make our analyses both historically rigorous and socially relevant. We are now developing practical ways of pursuing a creative criticism based on full acceptance of the difference that overcomes false consensus.
The originality /novelty of such impact has helped the research team to be identified and recognised in public and expert domains. This impact has given researchers the opportunity of going beyond the academic domain and getting concentrated in the public one. All of the previous related with the thesis derived that states that the analysis of multiple facets of the globalisation of knowledge constitutes an element of a methodical renovation of the philosophy of history. This last factor, linked to the originality of the impact achieved, has generated a new line of collaboration with partners related to mass media in Spain and Latin America. Such collective agents have absorbed and spread the results achieved by the research in a Cultural Iberoamerican context. This kind of impact, initially related only to the spread and a diffusion nature, has contributed to accomplishing the research goals related to the «publicity principle» in the public domain.
The impact of the basic research results can be identified in European and Latinamerican publishers industry. Such industry has shown its interest and support for making a direct impact by enlarging the knowledge of basic research and supporting with its own means.
The members of WORLDBRIDGES have continued publishing and disseminating innovative tools of interdisciplinarity and intercultural dialogue that are being developed in the project within and beyond the academia, as we believe that this experience is transferable and useful.
Our team has planned activities in order to generate feedback and knowledge transference enhancing a graduated design for the dissemination of the research results associated with the public sector and all other audiences exposed to the reception and comments on their results.
Some examples of the previously mentioned actions are (1) the systematization of the proposals around a new critical philosophy of history and the analysis of the concept of «globalisation» in Seminars and Conferences, (2) the organization of summer courses and postgraduate courses, (3) the dissemination of events through the participation in public radio and television programs, (4) the organization of meetings with partners of different projects and national research groups, and (5) the coaching for developing applications in order to participate in competitive calls. This chain of actions has contributed to a gradual assessment of the results obtained in the framework of basic research, but without separating it from the public space exposure.
One of the most important results of the project is the collective volume published in the Walter de Gruyter publishing house (2018, ISBN 978-3-11-054467-1) under the title Philosophy of Globalization (https://www.degruyter.com/view/product/475740) in which a large majority of the project’s members have participated. Our intention has been to take a critical and nuanced position on the phenomenon of globalisation. As we aim to demonstrate in this volume, this is a project to which philosophy too can contribute. The goal is to present a critical concept of globalisation that is as comprehensive as possible, by taking into account economic, political, ethical, social and cultural aspects, according to a methodology of philosophically grounded reflection. The historical dimension receives special emphasis, including the history of globalisation, the topic of globalisation in the history of philosophy, and the philosophy of history’s contribution to a systematic theory of globalisation. As a collection of contributions from authors from Europe and Latin America, this volume offers an opportunity to depict the topic from diverse perspectives and in an intercultural frame of reference.
In addition to this factor, we must point out the interdisciplinarity of the research team and their approaches: two necessary elements to promote the transfer of humanistic knowledge to other areas of knowledge. The approaches adopted have gone beyond philosophy and history, and have been reflected in debates and publications in which perspectives of the scientific, social and legal sciences have been present.
However, it is important to add to the previous, that the government, political, and decision making sector in public policies is the one to be impacted by the dissemination and diffusion of the results accomplished in our studies.
Web WORLDBRIDGES: http://worlbridges.cchs.csic.es/home
The first important achievement of the project consisted in establishing a constructive dialogue between historians and philosophers. This has evolved mainly around the issue of the political and philosophical dimensions of knowledge production. The historians and historians of science (IU, UNAM, UP) have brought into the project the empirical data and historically situated analyses of globalisation of knowledge (circulation of models, urbanisation, nuclear energy, genetics, etc.). The philosophers of science and of history (TUD, CSIC, CIF, UNAM) have stressed the need to fight the lack of dialogue and interconnection due to the increasing institutional and intellectual fragmentation. They have pointed to the fact that this lack of communication has serious political and social implications and have included a special focus on gender perspective in the research. Together we are aiming to address the universal and local dimensions of knowledge in a way that would make our analyses both historically rigorous and socially relevant. We are now developing practical ways of pursuing a creative criticism based on full acceptance of the difference that overcomes false consensus.
The originality /novelty of such impact has helped the research team to be identified and recognised in public and expert domains. This impact has given researchers the opportunity of going beyond the academic domain and getting concentrated in the public one. All of the previous related with the thesis derived that states that the analysis of multiple facets of the globalisation of knowledge constitutes an element of a methodical renovation of the philosophy of history. This last factor, linked to the originality of the impact achieved, has generated a new line of collaboration with partners related to mass media in Spain and Latin America. Such collective agents have absorbed and spread the results achieved by the research in a Cultural Iberoamerican context. This kind of impact, initially related only to the spread and a diffusion nature, has contributed to accomplishing the research goals related to the «publicity principle» in the public domain.
The impact of the basic research results can be identified in European and Latinamerican publishers industry. Such industry has shown its interest and support for making a direct impact by enlarging the knowledge of basic research and supporting with its own means.
The members of WORLDBRIDGES have continued publishing and disseminating innovative tools of interdisciplinarity and intercultural dialogue that are being developed in the project within and beyond the academia, as we believe that this experience is transferable and useful.
Our team has planned activities in order to generate feedback and knowledge transference enhancing a graduated design for the dissemination of the research results associated with the public sector and all other audiences exposed to the reception and comments on their results.
Some examples of the previously mentioned actions are (1) the systematization of the proposals around a new critical philosophy of history and the analysis of the concept of «globalisation» in Seminars and Conferences, (2) the organization of summer courses and postgraduate courses, (3) the dissemination of events through the participation in public radio and television programs, (4) the organization of meetings with partners of different projects and national research groups, and (5) the coaching for developing applications in order to participate in competitive calls. This chain of actions has contributed to a gradual assessment of the results obtained in the framework of basic research, but without separating it from the public space exposure.
One of the most important results of the project is the collective volume published in the Walter de Gruyter publishing house (2018, ISBN 978-3-11-054467-1) under the title Philosophy of Globalization (https://www.degruyter.com/view/product/475740) in which a large majority of the project’s members have participated. Our intention has been to take a critical and nuanced position on the phenomenon of globalisation. As we aim to demonstrate in this volume, this is a project to which philosophy too can contribute. The goal is to present a critical concept of globalisation that is as comprehensive as possible, by taking into account economic, political, ethical, social and cultural aspects, according to a methodology of philosophically grounded reflection. The historical dimension receives special emphasis, including the history of globalisation, the topic of globalisation in the history of philosophy, and the philosophy of history’s contribution to a systematic theory of globalisation. As a collection of contributions from authors from Europe and Latin America, this volume offers an opportunity to depict the topic from diverse perspectives and in an intercultural frame of reference.
In addition to this factor, we must point out the interdisciplinarity of the research team and their approaches: two necessary elements to promote the transfer of humanistic knowledge to other areas of knowledge. The approaches adopted have gone beyond philosophy and history, and have been reflected in debates and publications in which perspectives of the scientific, social and legal sciences have been present.
However, it is important to add to the previous, that the government, political, and decision making sector in public policies is the one to be impacted by the dissemination and diffusion of the results accomplished in our studies.
Web WORLDBRIDGES: http://worlbridges.cchs.csic.es/home
