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Prof. Louis Baeck: Overcoming Eurocentricism by a different understanding of ‘economy’ in relation to culture
Prof. Louis Baeck revealed in due course of his speech an amazing background of experiences. This is invaluable, when it comes to judging European reality. Moreover, his position is one which is just as familiar with the intricacies of politics and yet one capable of including outside positions such as those of Africans or Asians. He demonstrates easily a way of overcoming Eurocentricism.
Already the opening statement indicated this broader context of his reflections, for Prof. Baeck mentioned right away, that originally economic thinkers had in mind the entire cultural context, when speaking about economies working in one or another way. Indeed, he continued to argue, already the Greeks thought in terms of a multi-cultural society and after them Latin as well as Islam scholars thought in supranational terms, rather than in some limited or localised configuration of economic activity and survival strategy.
Only much later there came the kind of split between economy and culture as we know it nowadays, so Baeck's argument, with economy related to rationality and culture to irrationality. The economic forces were, therefore, used in the fight against irrationality. This had disastrous consequences for any future cultural development or consideration. Then, in this century, he pointed out that the Americans added to this economic rationality the thinking in terms of large scale enterprises or businesses, because they wanted to be the hegemonic leaders of the world. That made their particular cultural disposition into a specific ethnic assertiveness. Without taking that into consideration neither the Western World nor Western values can be understood.
He believes, on the contrary, that the Islamic world was not dominated by the thought of the 'new', for it rested on the belief that the past has a great future.
Elsewhere in the world, there is, for example, the Soviet Union with its underlying disposition towards a Slavophil type of thinking as advocated most definitely by Solzhenitsyn.
All this still has ramifications for the present.
In Europe, the dynamics of cultural states determined to a great extent the economic thinking which oscillated between decentralisation and globalisation. It was a matter on how to integrate oneself into the financial markets. There was a 'so' and 'so' position not really covered by any of the ideological mainstream movements. Neo-liberalism as one of the many dimensions was close or near to the end of any kind of social correction of capitalism. But none of these attempts did really work out.
Presently, one thing to be observed is that 'social' is being replaced by 'culture'. This means that the social perception is fading out. In other words, Baeck would argue, that we as human beings are becoming cooler and harder, while more conscious of our 'cultural roots'.
In that context, it is safe to say that culture goes well with neo-liberalism and its slogan 'let us be free'. It fits into the cooler world with lesser social considerations.
If one is to pose a coherent question about the relationship between the state and civil society, involving as much the trade unions as agriculture, then we are dealing with the microeconomics of the macroeconomics: a different defining force of the terms of trade.
It is his assumption that people are not interested in coherence, but
much more interested in micro-returns for the efforts they have undertaken.
Naturally, this makes them to be against 'big scale thinking'. One version
of that is the rhetorical question, 'why should we have a larger Europe, if
it means only that the Germans are dominating?'
Presently, there is the Europe of Maastricht with Brussels as the defining
centre of a Regional Europe. This is a long way from the time Schumann made
his manifestations about Europe.
Nowadays, what is being asked for is the multi-cultural school of management in response to a world that understands itself in multi-cultural terms. Perhaps it is the tower of Babylon in terms of many more languages being used or involved in decision making processes that has become 'the' problem for management.
Baeck went on to give an indication as to his involvement and personal background. For instance, he cited his contact to Gorbachev and his think-tank in Moscow as a reference to the dimensions and interactions he has been involved in throughout his active life. It started perhaps with his long years of experiences in Africa and continued by having many outstanding students of economics.
Comments
Prof. Baeck reminds one of how important it is to think 'globally'. His attempt to reach out to non-European scholars is most important. It reminds one in terms of recent history also about something President Clinton said in his speech at the occasion of the signing of the peace treaty between the PLO represented by Arafat and the state of Israel represented by Prime Minister Rabin: 'the Arabic world has known many outstanding scholars like al-Gahiz whose wisdom is still worthy to be known even today'. To bring back this cultural dimension into a respectable distance to the Western way of reflecting economies, but also to question the European cultures out of this perspective, this would be enrichment for all. One does need only to stand in Palermo, near the garden that Goethe had described, and see the specific Arabic influence on the surrounding buildings. This is like a breath of fresh air due to the outstanding achievements of the Mediterranean culture. To incorporate these relationships between economics and culture at a time when European cultures seem to confide themselves only to themselves, that is exactly the issue of how much wisdom and greatness of other cultures like the Islamic one can still be recognised by the European ones as such. The practical recognition would make a 'cold' world be governed again by human laws. The German philosopher Ernst Bloch had anyhow pointed out in his 'Lessons of Materialism' that the 'Arabic scholars' have 'saved the Greek light and at the same time changed it'. Until the 9th century, the Arabic scholars came from the natural sciences to philosophy. This differs from the European brand of philosophers who were too close for comfort to the church and theology. The underlining principle of understanding the Western Civilisation must also include this aspect.
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