Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

From the End of History to the End of the World? A Tale of Unforeseen Global Changes

Jönsson, Christer LU (2022) In Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century p.11-36
Abstract

This chapter takes the fall of the Berlin Wall as its point of departure, and from there it traces a trajectory of unforeseen developments that have led from the erstwhile global optimism to the dramatic shift in mood just three short decades later. The key questions posed are: What global developments that were unforeseen then can account for the much more sombre ambience, pessimism or even alarmism today; and what impact does this have on democracy? The questions are addressed on the assumption that the evolution of democracy in individual countries is determined not only by domestic factors but also by global circumstances. The unforeseen areas discussed include digital revolution; decline of multilateralism and rise of nationalism;... (More)

This chapter takes the fall of the Berlin Wall as its point of departure, and from there it traces a trajectory of unforeseen developments that have led from the erstwhile global optimism to the dramatic shift in mood just three short decades later. The key questions posed are: What global developments that were unforeseen then can account for the much more sombre ambience, pessimism or even alarmism today; and what impact does this have on democracy? The questions are addressed on the assumption that the evolution of democracy in individual countries is determined not only by domestic factors but also by global circumstances. The unforeseen areas discussed include digital revolution; decline of multilateralism and rise of nationalism; migrations; economic inequalities; global balance of power and climate change. The spread of COVID-19, while not a totally unforeseen development, has had implications for the nexus between these global changes and democracy, as briefly discussed in the chapter.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Democracy under Pressure : Resilience or Retreat? - Resilience or Retreat?
series title
Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century
editor
van Beek, Ursula
pages
26 pages
publisher
Palgrave Macmillan
external identifiers
  • scopus:85141425218
ISSN
2946-3424
2946-3416
ISBN
978-3-031-09122-3
978-3-031-09123-0
DOI
10.1007/978-3-031-09123-0_2
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b5d192e7-5225-407c-a229-91b633897c63
date added to LUP
2022-12-08 14:49:34
date last changed
2024-05-29 16:13:54
@inbook{b5d192e7-5225-407c-a229-91b633897c63,
  abstract     = {{<p>This chapter takes the fall of the Berlin Wall as its point of departure, and from there it traces a trajectory of unforeseen developments that have led from the erstwhile global optimism to the dramatic shift in mood just three short decades later. The key questions posed are: What global developments that were unforeseen then can account for the much more sombre ambience, pessimism or even alarmism today; and what impact does this have on democracy? The questions are addressed on the assumption that the evolution of democracy in individual countries is determined not only by domestic factors but also by global circumstances. The unforeseen areas discussed include digital revolution; decline of multilateralism and rise of nationalism; migrations; economic inequalities; global balance of power and climate change. The spread of COVID-19, while not a totally unforeseen development, has had implications for the nexus between these global changes and democracy, as briefly discussed in the chapter.</p>}},
  author       = {{Jönsson, Christer}},
  booktitle    = {{Democracy under Pressure : Resilience or Retreat?}},
  editor       = {{van Beek, Ursula}},
  isbn         = {{978-3-031-09122-3}},
  issn         = {{2946-3424}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{11--36}},
  publisher    = {{Palgrave Macmillan}},
  series       = {{Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century}},
  title        = {{From the End of History to the End of the World? A Tale of Unforeseen Global Changes}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09123-0_2}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/978-3-031-09123-0_2}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}