Globalizzazione e democrazia: considerazioni su D. Held, Democrazia e ordine globale

Abstract

The complex political, economic and cultural processes of globalization, shaping the world in which we live, make the traditional instruments of interpretation no longer useful. In this perspective, the increasing weakening of the nation-state and the beginning of an uncontrollable and anarchical growth of society become realistic. Instead of recognizing the irreversibleness of this process, Held believes that it is possible to build up a new democratic architecture of world order. Against the scepticals who declare that the extent of contemporary globalization is wholly exaggerated and against the transformationalists who extol a new poliarchy, Held’s challenge is to try to elaborate an original intellectual test in order to get rid of unacceptable asymmetrical distribution of life opportunity according to different historical values and geographical contexts. Although Held is not always persuasive, in that his subject would require an emprical approach in different fields rather than a theoretical ‘conceptual stretching’ (to use Sartori’s phrase), his effort shows that a democratic control in beginning global processes is necessary even if it is extremely difficult to achieve now.