Emerging powers as fact and metaphor: Some European ideas

Emerging powers appear to be rather diverse although some of them, like China and India, are mapping the world. They can be countries or regions, social scapes and flows, economic networks or global cities. They emerge after several decades of global flexible capitalism and the rise of regional networks and city-states. In order to meet contemporary challenges, emerging powers need the experience of coherence of older homogeneities as well as the complexities of extended, differentiated societies and social structures. This new step in recent globalization has to be mediated and understood. The European cultural memory of conflict, mediation and negotiation may enable Europeans to let emerging powers grow beyond the world of traditional empires and their global economies, beyond the worlds of nation-states and their international economy, and beyond the world of liberal empires and their global economy. This reflexivity and complexity may enable the social sciences to play an important public role, which they have not had for many decades, if they understand their moment.