Global problems and challenges facing the social sciences in times of crisis, socio-ecological transformations and climate change

Within the "Latin American Critical Thought Notebooks" Collection, CLACSO presents "Global problems and challenges that arise for the social sciences in times of crisis, socio-ecological transformations and climate change", by Jorge Rojas Hernández.

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Global problems and challenges facing the social sciences in times of crisis, socio-ecological transformations and climate change^[1]

Jorge Rojas Hernández^[2]

Introduction

The social sciences have had to constantly struggle to open doors and gain recognition in universities, research centers and, in general, in modern society. Pierre BourdieuHe argued that sociology has the dubious distinction of constantly having to confront the question of its scientific validity. “science that bothers"because it reveals hidden and often repressed things."

Why is sociology especially problematic? Because it unveils hidden and often repressed things, such as the correlation between academic success, which is identified with “intelligence,” and social origin or, to be more precise, the cultural capital inherited from the family. These are truths that technocrats, epistemocrats—that is, many of those who read sociology and those who fund it—do not want to hear” (Bourdieu, P. 2000: 21). It is a critical science. Ornament The function of Sociology is “to reveal reality“To reveal the system of domination, to uncover trends as established norms, and to examine the essence of society in order to transform it in an emancipatory way” (Adorno, T. 1991). Reality is often rendered invisible by the dominant culture and system, which are heavily ideologized in their general and everyday expressions. These approaches are valid for the entire social sciences. In times of crisis, challenges to the social sciences resurface, particularly from ultraconservative sectors. Indeed, the social sciences are required to understand and explain the complexity of regional, national, and global situations and to propose strategies for overcoming crises based on criteria of quality of life and ecological sustainability.

Global and regional contexts of the social sciences. Crisis of our time and of development models

End of an Era at a time of complex transition towards Something New, still uncertain, with regressive authoritarian far-right tendencies and hopes of improving the quality of life in democracy, with respect for nature, proposed by socio-environmental, feminist, ethnic, youth movements; in general, demanded by organized sectors in a transformative and emancipatory sense of societies.

In this sense, reflecting on the nature of the crisis, Morin points out:

“A crisis in a society unleashes two contradictory processes. The first stimulates imagination and creativity in the search for new solutions. The second can translate into an attempt to return to a previous stability or to cling to a providential salvation. The anxieties provoked by the crisis give rise to the search for and denunciation of a culprit. This culprit may have committed errors that caused the crisis, but it can also be an imaginary culprit, a scapegoat that must be eliminated. All these aspects are present in the crisis we are experiencing. Initiatives calling for a new politics are multiplying and expanding, while powerful lobbies "They harm the Government and the means to return to the previous order" (Morin, 2020: 33-34).

Along with analyzing the diverse and complex problems, Morin calls upon Shunt:

“Regenerated humanism is, essentially, a planetary humanism… As humanity is now threatened not only by new epidemics, but also by the accelerated degradation of the biosphere, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the outbreak of fanaticism and the increase in internationalized civil wars, the life of the human species and, inseparably, that of the biosphere become a primary value, a priority imperative.

Finally, planetary consciousness spontaneously arrives at the idea of ​​Earth-homeland: here we are, tiny humans, on the tiny film of life that surrounds the tiny planet lost in the gigantic universe. This planet, however, is a world, our world. This planet is at the same time our home and our garden” (Morin, 2020: 100-102).

Regional and international tensions and conflicts have increased recently. Trump's election in the United States and his threats to destabilize the democratic system are deepening the global crisis. Its evolution will depend on the responses of the affected countries and regions, responses that are already beginning to emerge from Mexico, Canada, Panama, China, Greenland, Denmark, Ukraine, the European Union, and within the United States itself.

The crisis of the development model and of the era will be long-lasting, accompanied by regional and global tensions and conflicts.

New paradigm and new culture?

Question: Will a new paradigm emerge regarding the existence and renewal of traditional and new practices and experiences in alliance with scientific and technological knowledge? This topic is currently being debated in philosophy. The prominent German philosopher Marcus Gabriel, raises the need for the emergence of a New Enlightenment:

“We are not facing just one crisis, that of the viral pandemic, but many crises at once: the crisis of liberal democracy, the crisis of the unjust distribution of resources on our planet, the crisis of morally deplorable exploitative capitalism, and, as the greatest of all crises: the climate crisis… The new Enlightenment demands, first and foremost: From now on, scientific and technological progress must be coupled with moral progress. The relaunch of our largely devastated global economy must place the moral progress of humanity at the apex of its goal structure. Human beings and their well-being are the supreme objective of the economy and the State, and this well-being includes non-human animal species, as well as our shared habitat, planet Earth” (Gabriel, Markus, 2022: 112-116).

Indeed, overcoming the geological, planetary, climatic, water, and social crises requires a paradigm shift. It demands a change in culture, narrative, and values. It requires moving beyond the instrumental rationality that has dominated the modern era. It requires recognizing and reinterpreting the best of the traditions, institutions, knowledge, practices, technologies, and ways of life cultivated and practiced by different peoples and communities throughout human history, with innovation and adaptation to the new times we live in, incorporating the contributions of scientific and technological development achieved in the modern era, and with a sustainable vision for the future.

The progressive withdrawal of the state and politics from social affairs has forced many young people to assume more individual and proactive roles. Many young people feel abandoned, marginalized from progress and personal development, which is fueling frustration, alienation from traditional institutions—including traditional political parties—and a search for authoritarian leaders who can provide answers to their problems and existential anxieties.

This reality is compounded by uncertainty about the future. Crises deepen this sense of existential emptiness, this lack of norms and values ​​that give meaning to individual and collective life. Multiple crises and wars produce scenarios of uncertainty and insecurity that affect the population on an ontological and existential level.

In times of crisis, building a new paradigm and sense of purpose is not easy. We coexist with traditional values ​​while gradually adapting to a new culture, values, and norms that are emerging. The social sciences must address this complex reality to which modern society and its citizens, especially children and young people, are subjected.

Crisis of political representation

Politics is a relevant activity in the process of organizing modern society. Politics has been the vehicle for discourses, narratives, and especially for ways of conceiving and organizing the exercise of power in society. In times of crisis, such as the one currently underway, political parties tend to lose their central position and their role as mediators in society. Traditionally, they have been considered representatives of social classes, groups, or movements. This was the prevailing conception in industrial society, divided into classes, strata, and social groups. When a development model ends, a particular way of understanding and practicing politics also enters into crisis. Political parties tend to become out of touch with reality and society. Other agents emerge as the actors of the moment. Intergenerational processes of disconnection and misunderstanding also occur. Former party agents are hijacked by narcissistic or populist leaders who operate and perpetuate themselves solely within the sphere of the struggle for power. Unable to respond to the evolving characteristics, cultures, and demands of social groups, these groups leave behind neglected spaces in society, which tend to feel politically and socially frustrated and abandoned. These politically "empty" spaces can often be filled by leftist groups or by far-right populist leaders, even those with fascist leanings, who seek to return the social, institutional, and political order to the past. As is currently being argued in Europe, they constitute a threat to democracy, freedom, and civil rights.

This new reality invites us to rethink politics and partisan political action within the framework of the new problems and challenges of a society in transformation. The challenge lies in removing politics from the culture of the past and from the realm of interpersonal power struggles. Clearly, this is possible, as has happened in the past. It implies generational changes, new ideas, and also requires changes in leadership styles, capable of interpreting and solving these new problems and challenges. Women and young people are beginning to stand out in this process of political renewal.

Education in times of change

Education plays a relevant role in the development and professional training processes of people, especially children and young people, and in the creation of culture, values, professions, identity and lifestyle.

Education, in its conception, teacher training, and application, responds to the requirements of the prevailing systems at different times and stages of societal organization. In the industrial era, professionals, technicians, educators, and teachers were needed to support the industrialization process. When these models enter into crisis, their structures, conceptions, and regulatory frameworks become inadequate, even obsolete, including the educational system. Therefore, they require review and change to respond to the new challenges facing society.

These changing times, accompanied by new cultures and human behaviors, demand profound changes in education, in its various forms and levels. Because these structures are relatively consolidated and deeply ingrained in the systems and individuals involved, transforming them is not easy. And, in many cases, public policies and governments fail to give them the importance they deserve, deepening the crisis and prolonging its resolution.

Renewing education, adapting it to the new times and the needs of children and young people, is a great socio-cultural and political imperative of the current 21st century.

Times of digitization and artificial intelligence

Digitalization and artificial intelligence are permeating modern life: the economy, healthcare, education, human care, management, and personal and family life. They impact jobs and also pose a threat: the emergence of a new model of domination.

“Three major revolutions shaped the course of history: the cognitive revolution marked the beginning of history some 70.000 years ago. The agricultural revolution accelerated it some 12.000 years ago. The scientific revolution, which began only 500 years ago, could well bring history to an end and start something entirely different” (Yuval Noah Harari, 2014: 15).

Artificial intelligence, as an expression of the advanced technological revolution, is producing a profound transformation of human life, whether by prolonging existence, improving health, enhancing intelligence, but also hindering its development as an individual and collective being amidst metamorphoses with uncertain results, which also impact higher education activities and the social sciences.

The new technological revolution will also shake the foundations of the prevailing teaching and learning system: i) First, in the way of teaching and learning; ii) Second, in the type of skills and professional profile of its graduates; iii) Third, in its institutional management; iv) Fourth, in its concern for the employability of the professionals it trains in its classrooms; and v) Fifth, in its relationship with society in the process of transformation and the planet in a growing and threatening situation of global ecological crisis.

In this regard, Phil Husbands, a professor at the University of Sussex and an expert in artificial intelligence, in his book Robots, questions the number of robots that exist:

“It’s difficult to calculate exact numbers, but a reasonable estimate is that in 2019 there were between 13 and 15 million robots in regular use worldwide. They are being used in industry, commerce, homes, hospitals, schools, and for many other things.”

The numbers break down more or less like this: the International Federation of Robotics estimates that in 2019 there were 2,6 million industrial robots in use. These are the heavy-duty machines—generally giant arms that weld, spray paint, pick up, move, assemble, and so on—in various manufacturing industries. At the moment, the largest robotic population, by far, is that of robotic vacuum cleaners. By 2018, the world leader in this sector, iRobot, had sold more than 20 million (Husbands, Phil, 2024: 23-24).

Husbands also raises the issue of Robotics Ethics:

“Without a doubt. Robots intended to be integrated into our daily and working lives must be designed to follow the moral codes accepted by society, the ethical norms of the time. In the case of pre-programmed, fixed, and silent machines, such as industrial robotic arms, this is relatively simple: they must be designed to be safe; no one around them should be endangered by the robot's operations, they should not emit hazardous chemicals in the presence of people, their movements should not endanger nearby people, etc. But things can become much more complicated when robots become mobile and autonomous and make their own decisions” (Husbands, Phil, 2024: 191).

Ultimately, there is also the hope and desire that this technological revolution will not bring greater suffering or lead to new systems of human oppression. On the contrary, we hope it will contribute to the well-being, freedom, democracy, and happiness of humankind, as well as the protection of the planet. For this to happen, there must be an ethical framework that socially and institutionally regulates and controls the social impacts of artificial intelligence.

Emergence of new empires in crisis contexts

Crises generally reflect the weakening or decline of former dominant empires and the rise of new ones. The decline of existing empires, such as the United States and Russia, is slow, contradictory, and marked by repeated attempts at recovery through authoritarian and neo-expansionist measures. These measures are not always successful or must be reversed in the face of opposition forces or due to their negative impact on the country itself, as is currently the case with the policies of the Trump administration in the United States. New empires, for their part, take time to develop and consolidate. In the meantime, the crisis persists and intensifies during a period of transition between a past of powers struggling to survive and other powers striving to establish themselves and project their influence into the geopolitical future.

In his book *Welt in Aufruhr* (The World in Turmoil), Herfried Münkler, a professor at Humboldt University of Berlin, argues that the following empires currently exist: China, the USA, India, Russia, and Europe (Münkler, H. 2024: 447-456). His work attempts to explain what the New World Order of Powers in the 21st century might look like. Latin America and the Caribbean could also be added as a possible sixth component, with potential for development. Other empires may also emerge: associations of countries, regions, and continents. All these empires experience problems, weaknesses, and internal and international conflicts that hinder their stability and development, but they operate on regional and global stages.

The decline of empires and the rise of new powers will be a highly complex and conflictive process that will extend over time and across territories. During times of crisis, a certain international disorder prevails, manifesting itself in invasions, wars, and aggressive rhetoric fueled by expansionist and destructive ambitions. Far-right parties and leaders seek to destabilize democratic societies and unions of countries, such as the European Union, and occupy spaces to implement mercantilist and authoritarian models of capitalism that benefit their economic interests and align with their ultraconservative ideologies. The strategy aims to safeguard capital, freeing it from socio-democratic, environmental, and climate-related commitments and constraints. Capital does not need democracy to prevail. On the contrary, democracy hinders its "libertarian" realization, as proclaimed today by the neoliberal representatives of the Friedrich von Hayek Foundation.

Given the aggressive nature of the ongoing expansionist offensives, it is crucial to protect our own natural resources and safeguard the progress made in social, cultural, gender, ethnic, and human rights by regions, countries, and continents. We must defend democracy, human life, and the planet.

Acceleration of global climate change: urgent need for change

Global climate change continues its course, even accelerating and, sadly, with increasing destructive intensity. Its local impacts are disastrous, highlighting the lack of preparedness in infrastructure and adequate public policies. The uncontrolled increase in CO2 emissions and their climatic impacts, as is currently happening in many countries and continents, could lead to the collapse of the planet. A serious current threat is the fact that governments and ultraconservative forces deny the scientific evidence and proof of climate change in order to continue using fossil fuels and exploiting nature without environmental restrictions.

Extreme weather events—intense rainfall, extreme heat, high humidity, extreme cold, etc.—are characteristics of climate change, as defined by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In this context, it must be recognized that nothing can be planned without considering the climate variable. Not only are less developed countries affected by climate change, but also more developed countries, such as those in Europe, the United States, and others. These countries now need to undertake profound transformations and renovations of their infrastructure—highways, bridges, river channeling for areas near populated areas, and urban, town, and city layouts—built in another era, under different socio-ecological, climatic, and cultural conditions, now rendered obsolete by climate change.

Global climate change cannot be postponed or relegated to a secondary role in the planning and implementation of countries' socioeconomic activities. Therefore, it is also a crucial issue in the social, environmental, and natural sciences, as well as in research and university activities.

Current Challenges in the Social Sciences

1. Rethinking their approach to science, defining – within the new global and regional context of crisis and reorganization described above – new relevant, urgent, and future-oriented topics:
   Different types of families (nuclear, extended, single-parent, reconstituted, same-sex parent, separated parents, multi-nuclear, single-person, DINK family/couples without children, LAT family/couples who do not share a residence. Source: OLMITOS, 2024).
   1. Changes in the workplace. In the industrial era, we spoke of formal, skilled, unskilled, and other types of work. The concept of the working class emerged, bringing about transformations. Work was extensively regulated. Then came informal work, remote work, self-employment, and the fight to reduce working hours. We have entered the digital age, with robotization and artificial intelligence profoundly transforming business, work, and daily life.
   1. Restructuring of modern society. New social groups emerge and old ones are revalued, which complicates the understanding of society. To the classic class society are added new social groups and movements: feminist movements, LGBT liberation movement, indigenous movement, youth movements, anti-globalization, NGOs, ecological movements, social movement for water, recyclers, community movements (Rodríguez-Medina, Pozas, Girola, 2022).
   1. Social media. It constitutes a new and highly relevant phenomenon of human communication that cannot be ignored in social science curricula. Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, and LinkedIn are some of the most widely used networks by millions of people. “We cannot understand the context in which leadership unfolds today without identifying the impact of social media and recognizing that new behaviors have emerged: Facebook has fostered an exhibitionist tendency among the general population. The search for notoriety, even public fame, through the exhibition forum provided by this digital platform, is based on the innate human need for recognition” (Homs, R, 2015: 253).

Social media plays a very important role today: “This trend is known to those who use social manipulation strategies and rely on emotions to control the population, who will seek prefabricated reasoning presented on a silver platter to confirm what has been provoked from the outside. Polarization is served up: no one listens to or understands the other side and we shut ourselves away in ideological ghettos with hardly any external influences, protected by the group, with which we experience a sense of belonging” (Velilla, N., 2023: 203).

Social networks constitute a major new topic in the social sciences and, in particular, in Sociology.

• The renewal of social thought demands a philosophical and epistemological reflection that rearticulates the theoretical with the methodological and, especially, with the new sociocultural, ecological and climatic realities that modern society faces.
• Consider the “social knowledge in constant construction and in interaction with the social world in which it is produced” (Didactics of Social Sciences, 2008: 7).
• Consider and revalue experiences of intercommunication of local knowledge and bioknowledge as alternative knowledge with impacts on development, production, coexistence and quality of life.
• Learning from the experiences of indigenous communities. Indigenous communities have a long and rich experience in producing knowledge based on their community life and their coexistence with other species that live in and with nature (Rojas, J., 2024).
• Expressing a renewed view of social theory, seeking own senses and concepts, an expression of postcolonial thought, endowed with autonomy (Benzecry, Krause, Ariail Reed, 2019).
• The renewal of the social sciences requires emphasizing creativity and innovation, employing the positive aspects of digitalization and artificial intelligence, without replacing human action and with ethical considerations.
  The renewal of the social sciences demands that their work give relevance, reinterpretation, revaluation, and permanent priority to their practical sense and interrelation with society, with their different cultural expressions, identities, histories and daily lives.
• To address ongoing global and regional transformations in order to create new knowledge and provide relevant and resilient responses.
• To cultivate multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary thinking and activities in educational establishments, especially in universities.
• Collaborate without neglecting your own disciplineThis can be expressed in the creation of new degree programs, new modalities of academic work, multi- and interdisciplinary subjects; the merging of traditional professions; collaboration between degree programs, faculties, and disciplines; and the promotion of research and bidirectional interaction with the society in which higher education is embedded.
• The mission of the Social Sciences and Humanities Sector (SHS) of the UNESCO It is about fostering inclusive societies, prioritizing policies that benefit the most vulnerable segments of our societies, who are more likely to be left behind in crisis contexts (UNESCO Montevideo, September 2023).

Nature and epistemological field of the Social Sciences

• The social nature of human beings and their evolution through time.
• The behavior of human beings in their aspects related to other humans.
• The nature of the various human groups, their appearance in time, their evolution, growth, disappearance, etc.
• The organization and exercise of power within groups and between groups, as well as its evolution and transformation over time.
• The behaviors of human beings within the various groups to which they belong, as well as the groups themselves as collective subjects in relation to other groups.
• The occupation and organization of the spaces and territories where the various human groups settle and their interaction with the environment.
• The various ways in which individuals and groups organize themselves to produce what they need to live, progressing in the quality of life, adapting to the physical and natural environment where they live.
• The material, intellectual and spiritual activities and productions through which individuals and groups express themselves and communicate.
• Artistic and cultural expressions.
• The evolution over time of the various groups, institutions, the multiple vicissitudes that individuals, human groups and all of humanity have suffered and starred in throughout time.”

Source: Didactics of Social Sciences. Ma. Concepción Domínguez Garrido (2008: 32-33).

Final comments

As we have seen and analyzed briefly in this document, the social sciences in times of crisis, socio-ecological transformations and climate change face new and complex regional and global problems and challenges that must be studied with due depth, creativity and in an interdisciplinary manner.

The social sciences, in their critical historical role of revealing hidden realities, continue to be called upon to critique unjust systems, social, ethnic, and gender inequalities, violence and wars against peoples, as well as the profound impacts of climate change. Some are old problems, still unresolved, and have even worsened, such as inequalities and discrimination. Other problems are new, such as climate change. Climate change affects both human and natural life, Planet Earth—the only habitat we have to build a quality human life based on respect, collaboration, and the pursuit of happiness in community. Furthermore, climate change should not be considered an independent problem, separate from other issues. On the contrary, ongoing climate change affects and deepens the range of problems that plague modern society: it increases poverty, inequalities, gender differences, and the problems faced by indigenous communities. It also affects the economy. It hinders human survival and coexistence.

The social sciences face a variety of problems and challenges—indeed, they affect all sciences—in a changing society, also influenced by scientific and technological revolutions such as digitalization and artificial intelligence. These changes also produce uncertainties about the future and a sense of existential loss, of feeling abandoned in a world in crisis, marked by multiple tensions, conflicts, and regional wars with international repercussions.

Furthermore, ultraconservative sectors seek to eliminate social and environmental sciences from formal education. Therefore, we must innovate and adapt social knowledge and epistemologies to the times we live in. We must safeguard the value, meaning, significance, and historical relevance of the social sciences in building a just, democratic, inclusive, and ecological social order in the world we live in.

Finally, I invite you to cherish and value the social sciences, environmental sciences, and sociology. Science in general provides us with information, clarity about the reality we live in, and objective perspectives for continuing to develop as individuals in a democracy and in freedom, with respect for human rights, for all peoples, and for the protection of the natural systems that provide us with ecosystem services.

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^[1] Paper presented at Panel: Social sciences in times of multiple crises and socio-ecological and climatic transformationsXXXIV ALAS International Congress, Dominican Republic, November 6, 2024.

^[1] Master of Arts in Sociology and Political Science, PhD in Sociology, Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany. Professor at the University of Concepción, researcher at the Center for Water Resources for Agriculture and Mining, CRHIAM (ANID/FONDAP/15130015 / ANID/FONDAP/1523A0001). Co-coordinator of the CLACSO Working Group on emancipatory praxis, common goods, and decolonial alter-global methodologies. [email protected]

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