The West and the World (1959) - Futures of Yesteryear

Following on from the special issue of Futuribles devoted to “Dialogue or Clashes of Culture” published last July, we reprint here extracts from the third number of the journal Prospective, entitled “Relations between the West and the rest of the world”. In it, the authors (Gaston Berger, Jean Darcet and Marcel Demonque) analyse the difficulties raised by the aid offered (sometimes imposed) by the West to so-called “underdeveloped countries” (for example, financial or technical assistance), and the actual or inherent risks to the populations of these countries who, viewing this aid as a sign of criticism of their cultures, began to oppose the West. The authors stress the importance of human values and beliefs in relations between civilizations, and conclude by discussing the distinction between civilizations and cultures: the former defined as relating to universal values, the latter to more personal – and therefore inevitably more varied – values.