Academy of Latinity in Ankara and Istanbul
(05/06/2005 - Yüksel Soylemez - www.turkishdailynews.com.tr)
This was a Brazilian intellectual initiative, born in March 2000 when a few Latin-American intellectuals put their brains together to think collectively on matters of political philosophy of interest to the Latin-American world under the leadership of the rector of the Universidade Candido Mendes. Since then, they have held seminars in many capital cities and in doing so bringing together some of the great intellectuals and political philosophers of our time.
The Ankara meeting of the Academy of Latinity was held on April 12 and 13 at Bilkent University, thanks to the positive reaction of Professor Ali Doğramacı, the rector of Bilkent, to a proposal made by Brazilian Ambassador Cesario Melantonio Neto to hold the seminar. The rest was left to the organization of Professor Talat Halman and Metin Heper of Bilkent, in cooperation with the Academy of Latinity. For those who missed the Ankara and Istanbul colloquia in-depth details can be seen on the Internet at emendes@candidomendes.edu.br.
Both the Ankara colloquium and the subsequent one held in Istanbul on April 15 and 16, 2005 chose the topic of Islam and modernity and its relationship with the concept of Latinity.
I only took part in the second day of discussions, which raised many interesting questions coupled with remarkable observations, and I must apologize if the main points and emphases, based on the haphazard notes I took, seem at all disjointed. The titles were "Values and Modernity;" "Identity and Trans-Modernity;" "From Domination to Hegemonic Identity;" "Historic Conscience Towards a New European Universalism;" "Ecumenism and a Cultural Matrix" and "Hegemony and Meta-Dialogue."
If these chapter headings interest you, here are some further observations:
“Latinity is divided into Catholic and secular as a local culture. Latinity transcends former colonial boundaries. Is post-colonial anger over? Latinity needs communality to discover a cultural revolution of spiritual geography. Today we live in a post national world. Modernity has Western origins typically on a Western basis with global connections between different cultural groups. The question of immigration, for example, is a transnational phenomenon. The notion of citizenship has changed. People have transnational rights as refugees. We are within the limits of modernity, but people do not trust modernity any longer. Women's, children's and animal rights are all new phenomena. Modernity in the classical sense is over.
"There is no connection between globalization and modernity. The concept of modernity began with the French Revolution in 1789. Now there is globalization, but there has been a conceptual link between the two, a continuation of a global trend since the 19th century. There are transnational groups like Islam and Christianity as a phenomenon of dynamic or status consensus and unanimity."
At one point, Ambassador Neto asked the French speaker how he would compare secularism in France and Turkey. The response was "secularism in France is not contested, but it is questioned in Turkey. Turkey will evolve its secularity as it approaches the European Union," adding, "We are very catholic in France in our approach to secularism."
There were also academics from Iran present during the colloquium. One of them observed: "Islam is stronger and more violent in Iran than in Turkey. Iran is taking its revenge from the secular society in Iran. Today the West is threatening Iran. There was plurality in Islam but there is still diversity and each believes in God in a different manner. Iran and Japan both made reforms, but Turkey wanted to be European in identity and secularism though becoming a sound principle but was difficult to attain. The difference between the two leaderships of Turkey and Iran is that in Turkey there are portraits of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to be admired everywhere as a revered popular leader as opposed to the Shah of Iran who came to power against the wishes of his people. Iran is trying to maintain its own traditional culture, but Turkey is trying to change itself on the way to EU membership.
"On modernity and trans-modernity the beginnings were related to transatlantic trade and commerce and its dominance and hegemony. Modernity's roots are in colonialism. Culture comes in a moment of crisis or fracture. It comes with a conservative, liberal or socialist model. The Atlantic foundation of capitalism was the massive exportation of black slave labor and availability of vast and free land. In spite of the creation of international law, since 1789 regard for human life and rights was still seen as dispensable in favor of commodity. The colonial wounds still run deep in social stratification. Invading migrants are seen as inferior humanity and Latinos are treated as second-class citizens compared to Americans or Germans. Technology was first invented in China and developed by the Arabs, but Europe has more money. The national state in Europe became an instrument to destroy the colonies, as the Europeans themselves were barbarian expansionists."
"The Russian Empire developed with parallel capitalism. When it became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics it continued to be colonialist until it ceased to exist. Modernity is victory over convention. Today there is confrontation with modernity from Japan and China and from sub-Saharan Africa. It is not by chance that modernity caught Turkey with an eclipse of the dominant hegemony. Post modernism does not do the job any more. Now the question is, is the EU a new form of assimilation, a repetition of the colonial past, as trans-modernity assimilates? Assimilation of the power of knowledge, not of the state, is another process of de-colonization."
"Capitalism triumphed over the Ottoman Empire because the Ottomans were not based on commerce and exploitation. Now Turkey is going join those who destroyed the Ottoman Empire. The Inca Empire, for example, was not colonialist either and their empire came to an end. The Ottomans were a tolerant people. Colonial and imperial are different concepts."
"We are at the end of colonial and imperial history. It is the end of the game. It is the hegemony of the world now. The dividing line today is between the rich and the poor. Accumulation of wealth takes precedence over human life and this is our civilization. President Bush says, ‘I am for life' while killing Iraqis in Iraq."
The Academy of Latinity went on to Istanbul as part of their 11th International Conference for further gymnastics of the mind underlining the fact that “democracy is an illusion.” American elections are nothing but a semblance of reality as a simulation of representation. The image is omnipotent, to be challenged. If you cannot defeat the image it will defeat you. The world today is under hegemony.
The West is imposing its values upon the rest of the world in the name of universality. Europe's borders today are superficial. Europe is a great Mediterranean culture but Europe is illiterate about Turkey and its culture.
This unusual intellectual exercise in political philosophy opened a new dimension in the minds of all those who were privileged to be present.