From Globalisation to Oikolisation

 

Prof. Dr. Christoph Stückelberger, Basel/Switzerland

 

"World", "globe", "monde", "Welt" – or "oikos"?

 

These words are backed up by Weltanschauungen.  The Anglo-Saxon "globalisation" and the French "mondialisation" are secularised terms for that which encompasses the world, which in the Christian view of the world is expressed with the Greek term "oikos": the world as the common house, the House of God. "oikos" has three topical dimensions:

 

Economy: responsible husbandry in production and the fair distribution of material goods.

 

Ecology: the responsible use, maintenance and renewal of the natural foundations of life.

 

Ecumenism: the responsible community of people and peoples with different religions and cultures.

 

This expresses a basically positive attitude towards the overall view of this planet as "One World", provided that this idea is dealt with responsibly.

 

In ethical terms, globalisation has two faces

 

Globalisation must be aspired to if it involves an attempt to understand the world as One Mankind and One Ecosystem and their interdependence, and to make it fertile for a dignified life for everyone with a fair share for everyone.

 

Globalisation must be rejected if it involves an attempt to reduce the world's multiplicity to one standardised economic, cultural and political model, which is created by only a few agents, and in which the economy has priority over any other sphere of life and action.