Interdependence and Responsibility

How can and should we construct responsibility?

The forces that unite us, often collected under the signature ‘globalization’, have brought great progress and prosperity. They have also, however, created new dangers. In this interconnected world, which is changing at lightning speed, we may feel safe in our clean, small villages and towns, in our thriving cities. But in truth, in the state of interdependence, we are on a constant search: the search for responsibility. For, as I will argue, as interdependence grows, so must responsibility. One can quite simply not come without the other: it would lead to disaster and chaos.

Within our web of interdependence commences, thus, the quest for responsibility. In the following, I will begin by examining how responsibility was constructed in the past. Thereafter, I will turn to the present, analyzing the threats and problems we are facing today. Finally, I will address the crux of the issue, namely: how can and should we construct responsibility in order to tackle the challenges we face today?