The Calling of Global Responsibility: New Initiatives in Justice, Dialogues and Planetary Realizations

The Calling of Global Responsibility: New Initiatives in Justice, Dialogues and Planetary Realizations. Edited by Ananta Kumar Giri, Routledge, 2023, ISBN: 978-0-429-34748-1.

This edited volume evaluates the global responsibility of humanity, a crucial initiative for addressing collective problems. In the contemporary world, people are facing numerous issues in their daily lives, such as terrorism, global warming, refugee crises, migration, poverty, hunger, and the resilience of civilizations. Global leaders and superpowers often blame one another but fail to take the necessary steps to solve these collective problems. This volume identifies several pressing issues in contemporary society because Globalization has dissolved borders, impacting all dimensions of development and progress.^[1] While it has spurred technological innovation and broadened social, economic, political, and business horizons, it has also brought global challenges closer. The solution to these challenges lies in global responsibility, as the interconnectedness of our world means that the actions of a single country extend far beyond its borders, influencing the global stage. In such a situation, there is a need to take new initiatives of justice for all those challenges; there is a need to develop those instincts of dialogue and coordination so that a new consciousness of responsibility can develop in the soul of humans and people can take responsibility for global challenges with responsibility. The chapters in this volume advocate for a new kind of philosophy that offers the human soul a new form of introspection for justice and responsibility, along with social harmony, to save Earth and humanity.^[2]

This book has 18 chapters exploring various ideas and transformative movements toward global responsibility and the calling of planetary realizations, including walking and meditating together with epilogues and reflections, which compile all the discussions in the interest of the people and demonstrate new initiatives for justice in addressing global challenges. Globalization, as humanization, seeks to ensure universal self-realization for everyone. It emphasizes the need for universal self-realization, where everyone can achieve their highest potential in terms of basic human development practices like access to food and freedom.

It exposes the hidden hatred in the souls of people and initiates the path to world brotherhood so that humanity can engage in spiritual discourse and face global challenges like terrorism, war, and global warming. Contributors to this volume critically examined planetary awareness, which refers to a new world consciousness that all are children of Mother Earth, necessitating the transformation of existing borders, rationality, the nation-state, and anthropocentrism. To address global problems, people should think beyond self-interest and establish democratic dialogue. They should engage in debate and take the initiative for social justice, noting that the recent shift toward responsibility primarily emphasizes the hegemony of ‘individual responsibility without burden’ and underscores the need for inclusion in social and cultural education to embody collective responsibility.

The book highlights several issues created by human self-interest and the exploitation of natural resources for luxurious lifestyles. They do not realize that this greed will jeopardize their future, leaving the upcoming generation to suffer and lament. Superpowers are competing for hegemony but fail to take responsibility for global crises. Businessmen establish industries under the guise of societal welfare but primarily pursue their own benefit. Global society is aware of these issues but fails to take initiative. Consciousness is essential for any collective action. With social consciousness, a justice-based society can be created. Responsibility is rooted in justice, but it extends beyond it. Its nature is broad, as responsibility is based on the transformation of justice and is constantly evolving. Responsibility is a continuous process of transformation; therefore, it is essential to understand and appreciate it as an ongoing process. Dialogue and responsibility are inextricably linked. As movements of violence and hatred rise and many monologues are silenced, numerous dialogues are also emerging across borders.

The book emphasizes that democratic dialogues are essential for fostering global responsibility among citizens across borders. To address global issues and save the Earth, people should communicate from the heart, not just diplomatically. Uniting the Earth in every way possible is crucial. If humanity unites with the Earth, they can live peacefully. People cannot survive without the Earth. Earth is our mother, and she is weeping because her children are fighting. When a new movement of dialogue begins, each place enhances the exchange of ideas and opens new avenues of progress for humanity. If corporations claim to be corporate citizens, they should be expected to uphold their commitments and act like responsible members of society who contribute to collective world-building. The critical question is whether a corporation can truly transform into a corporate citizen that becomes an integral part of civil society. This corporate citizen must be sensitive and receptive to the necessary moral, ethical, and spiritual responsibilities.^[3]

The book also evaluates policies that have been implemented by several global agencies and the Indian parliament regarding the COVID-19 situation in India. COVID-19 is one of the most serious challenges facing humanity globally, and different societies are confronting it in various ways. This increases the need to deepen people’s vision and practice of global responsibility. It teaches us to understand our contemporary social condition, in which individuals have compromised their values for self-interest and created a global structure focused on luxurious living. With the spread of the coronavirus and the increasing death and destruction, people have lost sight of human values. They have distanced themselves from one another and lack support. Nations have closed their borders to other citizens. The coronavirus presents not just a viral pandemic but also a civil pandemic. Existing frontiers of activity and constraints, including those set by nation-states, must be creatively transcended in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to overcome our current existential and epistemic constraints and create new approaches to education and coexistence, we also need to master the new art of border-crossing. In order for individuals to understand new meanings of death, disease, well-being, life, and healing, it also requires for new channels of dialogue between cultures.^[4]

This volume explains various aspects of economic inequality that exist in the world. It has also suggested that extreme economic growth and industrialization have created numerous problems for people. Growing economic inequality globally is a source of great unrest, leading to crises. It addresses the redistribution of wealth, facilitative regulation, job creation through various means, increases in real wages everywhere, support for trade union movements, as well as a new civilization and a global economic policy. The volume critiques the contemporary global political economy and connects the proposal of industrial development to a new kind of reflexivity. It emphasizes the need to develop new approaches, movements, and practices that encompass “moral and political” education and “heteronormative reflexivity.” People can understand the importance of global justice, dialogue, and responsibility movements, which are described in this book as contributing to moral, political, and spiritual education.^[5] However, the global trend of people’s rights movements calling for freedom, equality, and justice has forced leaders everywhere to give in to calls for environmental justice and human rights. It is crucial to remember, meanwhile, that the current political, economic, and global system makes the discussion of global justice unstable. However, the argument for a just world underscores the necessity of changing the unfair and unequal world into a just one. This will undoubtedly be a protracted historical process, but having a clear vision is crucial. As a result, the interlocutors’ varied backgrounds in knowledge and experience enhance our understanding of and application of global responsibility. Together, we develop our understanding of and approach to societal, local, global, and planetary responsibility. Through our actions, thoughts, and focus, they strengthen our founding principles, grow beyond them, and soar on fresh wings.

While expressing deep contemplation on contemporary global events, this book refers to the dimensions in which collective responsibility is needed for collective welfare. If an environment of responsibility is created, then the structure of a justice-based society will emerge, fostering a new type of dialogue. The current global structure is extremely complex. In the race for development, many countries have created weapons that can destroy the world multiple times, which is why various crises are arising. Industrialization and artificial intelligence are being promoted to such an extent that human consciousness is declining. The sudden appearance of numerous epidemics and the social side effects of other disasters highlight dimensions that currently require global dialogue and global responsibility, which can cultivate new consciousness. Although this book reveals inner thoughts, feelings, and self-consciousness, there is a pressing need for collective responsibility regarding untimely events in the world and the overall structure. This book rethinks and transforms the current conversation about globalization and global justice. Beyond nation-states and other man-made borders, it extends the concept of globalization beyond an economic or corporate framework to include humanization and planetary realizations. The author vehemently urges a rethinking of the anthropocentric worldview and questions the idea of human primacy. The book contributes uniquely to the growing field of global responsibility research by closely examining interfaith discourse and justice movements worldwide. Additionally, it assists us in overcoming the current challenges facing our civilization and fostering a new one centered on co-responsibility and environmental care.