The Emergence of World Society
Channel: Salvatore Babones
Date: 2016-05-02

The emergence of world society starting in the 1990s was driven by the spread of internationalist norms and institutions -- and gave rise to world society theory in macrosociology.

A major vehicle for the spread of world society has been world culture, composed of the three major elements of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

World culture is not so different from the "end of history" seen by Francis Fukuyama in 1989, which he envisioned as a universal homogeneous state characterized by liberal democracy and economic freedoms.

World society and the three principles of world culture are hotly contested in many developing countries, but even in these countries the rhetoric of world culture dominates despite very different meanings given to democracy, human rights, and rule of law in countries like China, Russia, and Iran.