This article takes as its starting point the cross-cultural problem of crisis situations that manifest themselves at the global level. COVID-19 is undoubtedly one such crisis. The article deals with the question of whether racism is a universal or a culturally conditioned phenomenon. It shows that racism as such is an ideational heritage of the ontological concept of race developed and established within the European intellectual tradition. By pointing out the differences between the essentialist and processual understandings of human beings, it shows that racism as a political and social fact is a specific heritage of European scholarship and is by no means a universally human mode of perceiving and categorizing people. By introducing the traditional Chinese models of relational and anti-essentialist concept of the self, the paper aims to show some new ways of perceiving interpersonal and intercultural interactions that can lead to solidarity and cooperation, which are urgently needed for devising comprehensive strategies of present and future confrontation with pandemics and other global crises.
|
