Francis Fukuyama

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Francis Fukuyama (2005)

Yoshihiro Francis Fukuyama (born October 27, 1952 in Chicago , Illinois ) is an American political scientist and is considered the most intellectually significant student of Allan Bloom .

Life

Francis Fukuyama comes from an academic family and grew up in New York . His father Yoshio Fukuyama, who was born in the United States to Japanese immigrants , received his doctorate in sociology from the University of Chicago and worked as a theologian . His mother Toshiko Kawata Fukuyama was born in Kyoto and was the daughter of Shiro Kawata, the founder of the economics faculty of the University of Kyoto and first president of the Osaka Municipal University .

He himself first studied political philosophy at Cornell University in Ithaca and comparative literature at Yale University in New Haven . He eventually graduated from Harvard University with a degree in political science . During 1979–1980, 1983–1989 and 1995–1996, Fukuyama worked for the US think tank RAND Corporation , in between he worked for the US government. From 1996 to 2000 he was Professor of Politics at George Mason University in Washington, DC was by 2010 Fukuyama Professor of International Political Economy at the Johns Hopkins University since he Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies of the Stanford University .

In 2015 he was awarded the Skyttean Prize . Fukuyama has commented on the most important issues in recent world politics and has established himself as a liberal thinker.

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"The end of the story"

In his famous book The End of History (1992), Fukuyama describes the course of historical evolution as a regular and purposeful chain of events: history is therefore not a random accumulation of circumstances. With reference to a modern variant of the Hegelian dialectic , Fukuyama tries to explain that the end of the Second World War and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 led to a final phase in the development of the political system. Totalitarian systems such as B. Communism and fascism no longer represent political alternatives. Rather, the way is clear for a liberal democracy . Totalitarian systems are doomed to failure because they contradict the basic idea of liberalism . According to Fukuyama, this consists of the following principles:

Fukuyama said that fascism ( what we mean here is National Socialism ), like communism, failed because of internal contradictions. Both systems lost legitimacy in the eyes of the people : on the one hand they did not adequately cover the needs of the people, on the other - this is probably the much more important reason in Fukuyama's eyes - they did not understand it, a feeling of recognition and self-esteem let develop. In the dialectical political process, Fukuyama interprets liberal democracy as the end stage:

"The great departure"

The information society

In his socio-political essay from 1999, Fukuyama attempts to explain the social and economic changes in modern and industrialized societies that have resulted from information technology . In summary, the development from an industrial to an information society has brought about the following social problems:

  • Increase in crime
  • Low birth rates with the indirect consequence of immigration
    • as a result of the emancipation of women
    • as a result of the dechurchification of society (extreme individualism)
  • Reduction of interpersonal relationships
    • as a result of the emergence and growth of virtual network companies
    • as a result of virtual communication (Internet).

At the same time, Fukuyama also analyzes the benefits of informationalizing society. This includes the fact that human knowledge and intellectual abilities play an increasingly important role in modern society. A knowledge society is gradually emerging that is based in particular on high technology and qualified services. The state is forced to increasingly invest in education in order to promote innovation. Intellectual work is increasingly replacing physical work.

In addition, the globalization of production will also be one of the consequences of the change to an information society. At the same time, developing countries are becoming increasingly industrialized because of the cheaper labor available there. In addition, information technologies dissolve cultural boundaries. This promotes tolerance and at the same time develops an understanding of other cultures and ways of life.

Restoration of social order

Fukuyama argues that the social problems arising from this change will be solved by societies through the formation of new formal and informal norms in accordance with the law. Every society is able to invent a new order. Fukuyama starts from the premise that only those societies are able to invent a new order that have sufficient “social capital”. Social capital (in the sense of Fukuyama; for further meanings see: social capital ) is the summary of informal and formal norms that all members of a society share “culturally” in order to enable effective cooperation with one another. It is therefore an indicator that can be measured negatively on the basis of empirical data if it is missing. High social capital is often associated with low crime rates and the general willingness to sacrifice oneself for society (this means, for example, voluntary work in clubs).

"The end of man"

In his science-critical work Das Ende des Menschen (2002), Fukuyama provides arguments for state control of biotechnology and human medicine . First, Fukuyama deals with the social and political disadvantages of so-called posthumanism . In summary, the scientific and technological advances in human medicine and biotechnology have brought about the following developments:

Social and political disadvantages

Fukuyama warns against a naive optimism . In particular, in his opinion, the social consequences of these scientific achievements are not foreseeable. The general healing effect of these techniques can lead to a noticeable extension of human life. But Fukuyama emphasizes that the positive appearance of this development is deceptive - it leads to an aging society. Society is structured according to age groups, so that aging can mean that younger people will not have the opportunity to climb the social ladder. The consequence would be acts of discrimination against older people. The pre- implantation diagnosis and the embryo screening could lead to a veritable sexual and genetic selection (so-called designer babies ). If parents were to be able to choose certain characteristics of their future children, then they would take advantage of this to have smarter, bigger and more beautiful children. Because of the high costs involved, only wealthy parents could make this selection, so that an elite would emerge that could even claim that it was genetically superior . This could lead to the formation of a new breed of aristocracy . The consequences of sexual selection could also be devastating because a gender-specific shift in society could take place (example: People's Republic of China ). According to Fukuyama, socially accepted forms of coexistence (example: homosexual partnerships) could also be called into question by future developments in biomedicine. Assuming that homosexuality is genetic, embryonic screening methods could lead parents to choose between an embryo containing heterosexual genes and an embryo containing homosexual genes . If the decision is made - as expected - in favor of heterosexual children, this could lead to increasing discrimination against homosexuals.

Incidentally, Fukuyama is very critical of the possibility of manipulating germ lines . Ensuring people's health is okay. The attempt to cure genetic diseases (so-called curative treatment ) is also not objectionable . But the undertaking that strives to perfect nature must be seen as inadmissible. It may be that evolution has been blinded , but it is clear that it follows a strict logic of adaptation that produces organisms that are suitable for their environment.

Justification of the criticism of posthumanism

Fukuyama bases his critical stance on posthumanism on human rights , which he traditionally derives from human dignity . If it should be possible in the future to change the basic structure of a person through genetic manipulation of the germ lines in order to achieve perfection, then the principle according to which all people are fundamentally equal is questioned. He does not justify human dignity by calling on God, nor in a positivistic way . Rather, he derives human dignity from human nature and thus provides a modern variant of the Kantian concept of dignity. In his view, human nature is the totality of behaviors and characteristics typical of the human species, which result from genetic circumstances rather than environmental factors.

State control as the solution

Fukuyama suggests that technical and scientific developments in bio and human medicine be adequately controlled. The states would have to

  • regulate the use of the above techniques
  • Establish and use institutions that distinguish between healing treatment and improvement
  • give these institutions certain rights of intervention as well
  • operate internationally to enable global regulation and control.

Position on neoconservatism

In his 2006 book Does America Fail? Fukuyama deconstructs the “clan ideology” of the neocons and renounces them. He criticizes Bush’s policies and especially the means of the war against Iraq as “Leninist”. For Fukuyama, " Leninism " means actively intervening in inevitable processes in order to accelerate them. “The smartest way to assert American power at the present time is not a military one,” he writes critically in the direction of the neocons: “What is needed is the ability of the USA to shape international institutions , as it did in the years immediately after the Second World War . ”On the one hand, Fukuyama criticizes the concept of“ exceptionalism ”, which“ lifts the United States above the others ”( Karl Grobe ), and the ideology of the“ Manifest Destiny ” that corresponds to this attitude . Behind this is the belief in an American calling to show everyone else the right way by means of power. He denies this attitude legitimacy, but assigns it an effectiveness that he at the same time affirms. In his review in the Frankfurter Rundschau, Karl Grobe states that a pioneering thinker turns away from the fact that Fukuyama is “on the side of effectiveness in the name of the USA”, according to which “a rapid reaction force ... is always better than a UN that is soaked and inhibited by international law” Debate "is.

"Identity: How the loss of dignity threatens our democracy"

In view of the rise of authoritarian regimes and populist politicians in the recent past, Fukuyama was faced with the question of the extent to which his thesis from The End of History , that with the end of the Cold War, mankind embarked on the final path to liberal democracy as the final stage of political system development, was upheld can be. Fukuyama revised his previous thesis in his book Identity , which was published in the USA in 2018 : How the loss of dignity does not endanger our democracy , but offers explanations as to why liberal democracy can also develop backwards. To do this, he relies primarily on identity politics , which has been understood as virulent since the election of US President Trump at the latest , in which the struggle for particular interests leads to the division of society and even violent conflicts. According to Fukuyama, Western democracies have underestimated the political potential of emotions , especially the associated need for dignity. In principle, the struggle of disadvantaged groups for dignity and equality is worth supporting, but they increasingly rely on victim narratives directed against other groups, from which a dangerous new tribalism is growing. As a solution, Fukuyama proposes “to define larger and more uniform national identities that take into account the diversity of liberal democratic societies”, i.e. to establish a dominant culture in the sense of Bassam Tibi : a national consciousness that does not focus on ethnicity, race or belief, but rather in Commitment to the rule of law, equality and democracy can be found. A political strategy, writes Fukuyama in the 14th chapter of the book, which in this sense focuses on the "successful assimilation" of immigrants, "could help to take the wind out of the sails of the populists currently rising in the United States and Europe" ( "Public policies that focus on the successful assimilation of foreigners might help take the wind out of the sails of the current populist upsurge both in Europe and in the United States" ).

Publications

  • The end of the story? in Europäische Rundschau , vol. 17, no. 4, Vienna 1989, pp. 3–25; back in When the Iron Curtain fell. Texts from the "Wiener Journal" and the Europäische Rundschau from the annus mirabilis 1989. Atelier, Vienna 2009 ISBN 3-902498-26-9
  • The End of History ( The End of History and the Last Man ), 1992
  • Confucius and the market economy: the conflict of cultures ( Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity . The Free Press, New York City, USA), Munich 1995, Kindler, ISBN 3-463-40277-7 .
  • The departure ( The Great Disruption: Human Nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order ), 1999
  • The End of Man ( Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution ), 2002
  • Building States: The New Challenge of International Politics ( State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century ), 2004
  • America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy. Yale University Press, March 2006, ISBN 0-300-11399-4 ( see [1] ).
    • Is America Failing? Superpower at a crossroads. Berlin: Propylaen Verlag, March 2006. - ISBN 3-549-07289-9 ( Reviews: [2] , [3] ).
  • Nation-building: Beyond Afghanistan and Iraq. Hopkins University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-8018-8334-2 .
  • The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution . Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-374-22734-0 .
  • Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy. Profile Books Ltd 2014, ISBN 978-1-84668-436-4
  • Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment. Profile Books Ltd 2018, ISBN 978-1-78125-980-1 .
    • Identity. How the loss of dignity endangers our democracy. Hamburg: Hoffmann and Campe 2019, ISBN 978-3-455-00528-8 .

See also

Web links

Commons : Francis Fukuyama  - Collection of Images

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The Power of Long Breath , NZZ, September 7, 2016
  2. ↑ a b c "Identity": Francis Fukuyama again fails because of the present. February 9, 2019, accessed on March 7, 2019 (German).
  3. ^ A b c Maria-Sibylla Lotter: "Identity": The offended person . In: The time . February 19, 2019, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed March 7, 2019]).
  4. ^ Francis Fukuyama, "Identity" - The Left's Double Treason. Accessed March 7, 2019 (German).
  5. ↑ Thomas Steinfeld: How Fukuyama wants to save his thesis of the end of history . In: sueddeutsche.de . February 7, 2019, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed March 7, 2019]).
  6. ↑ Christian Buß: Present findings from Francis Fukuyama: It's about dignity, not about economy . In: Spiegel Online . February 7, 2019 ( spiegel.de [accessed March 7, 2019]).
  7. ^ Francis Fukuyama - "Identity". Accessed March 7, 2019 (German).
  8. ↑ Francis Fukuyama: Identity - How the loss of dignity threatens our democracy . Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg, ISBN 978-3-455-00528-8 , pp. 207 .
  9. ^ Excerpts in Martin Morgenstern , Robert Zimmer Ed .: Meeting Point Philosophy. Foundations of the state and historical meanings. Vol. 4: " Political Philosophy " of the series. Bayerischer Schulbuch Verlag BSV, Munich 2001 ISBN 3-7627-0325-6 & Patmos, Düsseldorf 2001 ISBN 3-491-75641-3 pp. 143-146. Whole text first English in Zs. "National Interest", Summer 1984
personal data
SURNAME Fukuyama, Francis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American political scientist
DATE OF BIRTH October 27, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois , USA