Peoples SpaceTimes in Global Processes: The Response of the Local

Abstract

The great American sociologist C. Wright Mills noted in 1959 that “in our time the problems of Western societies are almost inevitably universal problems” (Mills 1959:164-180). He already spoke of “postmodernity” and pointed his ?nger to one of the foremost characteristics of contemporary globalisation: the tension between Reason and Liberty. According to Mills, this tension caused malaise and a certain indifference that led to the formation of a “happy robot” in contrast to the Enlightenment model of a creative human being.