Ikerbasque researcher: Daniel Innerarity
Governing now has as its chief aim the collective management of uncertainty
Your research is centered on governance in the global knowledge
society. Could you tell us more precisely with what it is
concerned?
Each historical epoch has its own form of governance. We are
located at a unique historical juncture that is the result of the
confluence of globalization and knowledge, which poses unprecedented
problems and demands innovation both at the conceptual level and in
government.
The most novel circumstance at the present moment, what most demands to be understood and governed, is a societal configuration that is at the same time worldwide and based on knowledge. These two lines of research (globalization and the knowledge society) should develop in a coordinated manner, since neither of these two processes can be understood without the other, and the solutions in terms of governance that could be found must arise from the combination of both perspectives. The possibilities and risks of worldwide governance are closely bound to the possibilities and risks of the knowledge society.
The objective of my research for the coming years consists precisely in analyzing how a worldwide society based on knowledge is governed, starting from the principle that governing the global knowledge society demands different abilities, processes and rules than those that were necessary for governing industrial societies organized into states. Governing, which in the period of the formation of the nation states was focused on the problem of control of power or achieving order, and which in the development of the social state has had as its goal the fight against poverty and inequality, now has as its chief aim the collective management of uncertainty. This has been, in summary, the evolution of the challenges of the nation state, the welfare state and the knowledge society. Now our principal challenge is to attain an intelligence in the institutions that is sufficient to confront the uncertainty and ignorance that is characteristic of the complex systems.
What are the main challenges posed by societies of this sort?
The current circumstances in the world indicate that we stand before unprecedented political, social, economic and cultural changes. The world has experienced a great unification from the standpoint of communications and financial markets, while the traditional instruments of government are having great difficulties in configuring these new realities in accordance with the criteria of justice or sustainability. The extent of the interdependencies has created a complexity that has already become difficult not only to administrate, but even to understand. All these considerations oblige us to be aware that we are confronted with certain realities, which, for a start, should be well understood. Whoever wishes to play some role in this world must begin by understanding it well, and our traditional conceptual instruments do not help us very much with this task. Only a good description of what is happening will permit us to know what it is that we can and should do. In addition, the phenomena linked to globalization create unprecedented risks and opportunities, which must be analyzed rigorously and with farsightedness.
How has accepting the job offer from Ikerbasque influenced your scientific career?
At a basic level, it has made more time available for my research and for the startup of the Democratic Governance Institute in San Sebastián, which will be a center for reflection, research and dissemination of knowledge concerning the subjects that I have just mentioned, and which will collaborate closely with some of the best centers dedicated to this type of research. The objective of this center for social and political innovation is precisely to reflect upon the new geopolitical map of the world and examine the role that Europe can play in this new context, in which economic and political processes are taking place that will be decisive when it is time to configure the new international scene.