This paper Are there workable normative worldviews for global governance – gaston Meskens
was a contribution to the U4 Conference “Global Studies: Critical and Interdisciplinary Perspectives” organised by the Ghent Centre for Global Studies on 28 June 2014.
from the conference website:
Global Studies is an inherently transnational and interdisciplinary field of research, which tends to be postcolonial and critical, and has a distinctive historical and ethical dimension (Juergensmeyer, 2011). With this conference the Ghent Centre for Global Studies aims to capture this contemporary research agenda by focusing on three key tasks: Governing the Global, Localising the Global and Decolonising the Global. Addressing these themes requires both critical and interdisciplinary perspectives. Doing critical Global Studies entails a highly reflexive approach, scrutinising established concepts and theories, which reflect our European history and place in the world, our different national and disciplinary traditions. Crossing these boundaries, so as to “unthink” the Social Sciences (Wallerstein, 1991) or “indiscipline” Global Studies (Taylor, 2013), remains a fundamental challenge. With the multidisciplinary panels at this conference, we wish to stimulate such a critical and interdisciplinary dialogue.