Academic literature on the topic 'Jeremy Rifkin'

This Afterword argues that the moral practices of resentment, apology, and forgiveness all have particular meaning for what has been called, by both primatologist Frans de Waal and economist Jeremy Rifkin, the contemporary “age of empathy.” De Waal focuses on biological evolution to show how our empathy is producing a “kinder society,” Rifkin examines social evolutions in the harnessing of energy and the production of communication patterns tied to those energy regimes to show how moments in our past may help us see that our trajectory is inexorably leading us to a “global consciousness.” Empa

Safeguarding cultural heritage—preserving it from the neglect of time and abandonment—is not in itself enough that the patrimony truly constitutes a part of that slow process of identity which in its inner essence of heritage, that of inheritance, cultural heritage is called upon to participate. For this to happen, it is necessary that heritage is “accessible” in the sense that Jeremy Rifkin has attributed to this term—proposed as a “possible experience” in everyday lives. Thus, new digital technologies not only make it possible to build virtually unlimited “memory archives”, but also to access systems, with a dynamic and interactive consultation so that a new generation of ‘prosumers' (producers/consumers) of the cultural heritage can give new meaning to it. This chapter investigates the potential and meaning of these new “memory archives” through the case study of the archive of the Ex Voto of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii and of the 'stories' that it treasures.

Within ‘The Reformist Commons’, the author establishes the views of a wide range of reformist theorists. This reformist approach to the commons combines liberal, social democratic, socialist and revolutionary elements in multiple variants. In the context of Benkler’s three basic future scenarios for the com­mons the author goes onto critically engage with the work of a number of thinkers who have further argued for the autonomisation of commons-based peer production in such models as the green governance (David Bollier and Silke Helfrich) and collaborative commons (Jeremy Rifkin) and platform cooperativism (Trebor Scholz) . Also discussed are Bauwens and Kostakis’s model of open cooperativism incorporating the ecological model of Design Global Manufacture, cosmolocalism and a partner state abetting commons-based peer production, Adam Arvidsson and Nicolai Peiterson’s ‘productive publics’ and digital distributism (Douglas Rushkoff). The author concludes with Erik Olin Wright’s arguments for how institutional space might be freed up for strategic action towards a commons-orientated transition. Wright’s perspective, the author argues offers the most holistic political alternative by integrating the self-instituting power of the people into a strategic pluralism based on multiple pathways of social empowerment, embodied in a variety of structural transformations. This may function as an institutional multi-format for the various reformist approaches advocated by the other thinkers.

This chapter explores the various representations of Europe found in English and other languages. Euroscepticism is taken into account, and the waning of the French ideal of Europe is contrasted with the relative indifference or antipathy for Europe expressed by various English authors over the centuries. In addition to the corpus-based research, this chapter aims to outline the way attitudes to Europe are tied up in metaphorical narratives of Europe as an unstable building or sinking ship. Attacks on Europe in the English press are considered and contrasted with the press of other European nations. As the Brexit crisis continues, the authors explain the way the French President, Emmanuel Macron, positions himself in the face of rising Euroscepticism in France and the threat of the Far Right, hostile to the European Union. In contrast to this, Scottish and American authors who love and celebrate Europe are quoted. The authors consider the idealism that has often focused on Europe with a broad long-term perspective, quoting French authors such as Victor Hugo and Charles de Gaulle. American ambivalence concerning Europe as both an ally and a rival is taken into account, but the authors choose to focus on the American Sociologist, Jeremy Rifkin, who affirms that the American Dream is less suited to the 21st century than ‘the European Dream’. Europe is thus considered from within and from without. From within, the Europa website is studied to explain how Europe presents itself to the citizens of the Member States. In the Chinese section, the authors outline the way Chinese authors weigh up Europe as one of the possible models of Westernization, stressing the way Europe has created a sustainable multi-nation, multilingual economic and social zone. In the context of the European migration crisis, Brexit crisis, and other difficulties closely followed by the Chinese press, the authors contend that the Chinese Dream is positioning itself as an ideal in relation to Westernization and Europeanization as possible policies. The complex and changing attitudes of the Chinese to Europe as a colonial power, as a rival, and as a trading partner are considered in order to show what China understands by Europe, and what kind of mirror it holds up to Europeans from the Chinese perspective.