A Cardinal Challenge with Urban Anthropology Axiological Reconstruction
A Cardinal Challenge with Urban Anthropology Axiological Reconstruction

Summary/Abstract: Urban anthropology ranks with the anthropological disciplines best fitted to provide a critical evaluation of success and failure in the present civilisation – as indeed, the running economic, social and cultural dynamics need mostly to be assessed in cities and conurbations. Scientific and technical progress nowadays pervading almost every aspect of life appears to be shadowed by mega crises, rightly assessed by experts to challenge not just long term prospects for progress, but also the whole bios of the planet. Our paper draws on a couple of theories about the cyclic development of civilisations and, on the other hand, on neurophysiological research on cerebral lateralization. It is argued that for progress to be secured in the long run, it is imperative that hard and soft inputs – equipment and qualified manpower – be supported by axiological polarisation policies, i.e. by an effort to recommend and disseminate paradigms of communitary perennial cultural values (current ideologies are mostly known to recommend paradigms of short lived values). The goal to have in mind is about creating institutions especially designed to turn present generations fully responsible with respect to the needs and rights of future generations. With consumer societies, current growth strategies come nowadays to be perceived as one ponderous vector of worldwide crises. To escape this bland alley, one promising alternative might be to develop the alternative concept of culture consumer society. It is high time for the deconstruction philosophy committed to fight for the here and now rights of the individual to be dialectically paired to a reconstruction philosophy, explicitly engaged in defending perennial values of humanity and, by extrapolation, the future assets and rights of the human kind at large.

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