Human history is characterized by continuous flows from past to future. This is not how we, living in present-day Europe, often perceive it, however. Living with ‘the tyranny of the Now’ we suffer from serious short-termism with potentially disastrous consequences, as we can only go forward by looking back.
In my lecture, I will illustrate and analyze this problem by focusing on globalization: the increase in connectivity of peoples, ideas and goods over large, supra-regional distances and the impact thereof on human lives. Globalization is held responsible for many of the world’s problems at present. Is globalization something good or bad for the world? The deep historical perspective I offer in my lecture will show that this is the wrong question to ask. Globalization simply is and I will argue that it has been part from our humanity from its earliest beginnings.
The period of Antiquity, traditionally studied as an achievement of the Greeks and Romans alone, represents a remarkable threshold in the deep history of globalization as it was in this era that the world discovered itself as the world. This had huge consequences that we perceive until the present. Can investigating this process prepare us better for the future?
Der Vortrag ist Teil der Reihe "Mainzer Vorträge zur Römischen Archäologie" (MaVRA), gemeinsam veranstaltet von dem Arbeitsbereich für Klassische Archäologie der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz und dem Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie.
An diesen Tagen hat die Bibliothek bis 18.15 Uhr für Sie geöffnet.