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The excesses and risks of the post-modern condition: from globalisation to digitalisation and the risk of Non-Things

Published

2024-12-30

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Issue

Section

Rethinking Culture and Creativity: The Challenge of Sustainability

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13138/2039-2362/3557

Authors

  • Luciana Lazzeretti Università degli Studi di Firenze

Abstract

Globalisation and digitalisation are both part of the postmodern condition. We are experiencing the increasingly rapid rise of a new black box society characterised by black boxes where algorithms, observing the characteristics of users, predict a class, a rating and suggest decisions without explaining the motivation. If, with globalisation, the issues of the economic enhancement of culture saw the primacy of the economy over society, discussing a possible culture-driven vs data-driven economic development, now technology plays a leading role.

We have dealt with the excesses of postmodernity in the past, discussing the risks associated with globalisation and the enanchement of museums and art cities as High Culture places, introducing the «risk of the Non-Place - understood as an anthropological place-» generated by the loss of «meanings, relationships and history». Starting from the suggestions emerging from the literature, we now address the theme of the risks of digitalisation by introducing the concept of the “Risk of Non-Things”, connected to computerisation, the dematerialisation of the world and the loss of memory that may involve objects, movable and immovable artistic heritages, natural heritages, territories, animals, plants, even perhaps humanity itself.

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How to Cite

Lazzeretti, L. (2024). The excesses and risks of the post-modern condition: from globalisation to digitalisation and the risk of Non-Things. Il Capitale Culturale. Studies on the Value of Cultural Heritage, (30), 17–37. https://doi.org/10.13138/2039-2362/3557