Power in the 21st century - who will have it and what will it mean?
COURSE FULL. TO GO ONTO WAITING LIST PLEASE E-MAIL US AT [email protected]
In 1918, as World War I entered its final stages, one could have predicted where power would lie in the 20th century – with a fast-emerging United States, with major business and financial interests, and with white males in general. However, it would have been seen as outrageous to predict that a chaotic Russia would be a superpower (for quite a while), that weak and peripheral China would emerge as a power, that huge corporations that deal solely in data would begin to rule the economic universe or that two women would be Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom.
So what about the 21st century? It’s early days, and things change so fast that making predictions may be folly. However, we can start to see the shape of things to come – climate change, dispersion of power as hierarchies collapse, the decline of white male privilege (yes, really), the shift of state power from West to East, the decline of state power, the struggle for power between dramatically different political and economic philosophies – conservatism, libertarianism, authoritarianism, socialism, oh and liberal democracy. Also, people at large may wield greater direct power through mass collaboration enabled by technology rather than through representatives.
In this course we will attempt to answer questions such as:
Moderator: John Simke
Date and Time: Thursdays, April 18 to May 9 (4 weeks), 2-4 PM
Location: OISE, 252 Bloor Street West, Room TBA
Cost: $24
Maximum Class Size: 30
Booking: See Terms and Conditions. Please note, maximum of two spots per person. When the course is full, to go onto the waiting list, please send us an e-mail at [email protected]
So what about the 21st century? It’s early days, and things change so fast that making predictions may be folly. However, we can start to see the shape of things to come – climate change, dispersion of power as hierarchies collapse, the decline of white male privilege (yes, really), the shift of state power from West to East, the decline of state power, the struggle for power between dramatically different political and economic philosophies – conservatism, libertarianism, authoritarianism, socialism, oh and liberal democracy. Also, people at large may wield greater direct power through mass collaboration enabled by technology rather than through representatives.
In this course we will attempt to answer questions such as:
- Will the United States still be the primary power in 2100, and if not, will any other state have this role?
- Will cities replace states as the main centres of power as the world continues to urbanize and national governments fail to address the most pressing problems
- Will multinational institutions finally achieve power to shape and manage world issues, particularly address the global threat of climate change?
- Will corporations continue to be the dominant economic actors and if not, who will wield economic power?
- Will the age of white male dominance finally come to an end and will women become truly equal?
- What will determine power in the 21st century? Will it be brains, resources, population, the ability to collaborate effectively, having the most effective economic system, having the most effective political system, the most effective management of climate change, or..…?
Moderator: John Simke
Date and Time: Thursdays, April 18 to May 9 (4 weeks), 2-4 PM
Location: OISE, 252 Bloor Street West, Room TBA
Cost: $24
Maximum Class Size: 30
Booking: See Terms and Conditions. Please note, maximum of two spots per person. When the course is full, to go onto the waiting list, please send us an e-mail at [email protected]