Marco Schirone
University of Bari
Following the analysis of the Iranian revolution made by Michel Foucault it will be argued that religion more and more has guided the opposition to the phenomenon of westernisation and globalization as imposed by the alliance between super-powers and transnational companies. 9/11 in New York, the diffusion of radical Islamic groups such as Al-Qaeda and the ÒWar on terrorÓ are events which can all be understood as the products of the contradictions of the globalization. If the global market does not consider the unfair consequences that it has on the lives of the people - especially in the Third and Fourth worlds - more and more religious extremism will push people to the jihad against the third century version of capitalism. What the Iranian revolution has shown is the possibility for the social agents to be potere costituente, in NegriÕs terms, that means a force able to found new government, new laws and new economy. With the diminished contrasts between USA and Russia after the end of the Cold War has left the Third Word less and less exposed to Marxism whilst religious radicalism is being diffused by the pressure of transnational capitalism on local cultures and workforce. It is argued that if global capitalism does not find a way to rethink itself and to take into consideration the needs of the local economies and cultures it will face more and more a strong kind of opposition based on religion. In the same way in which protestant ethics has favoured the growth of western capitalism ethical proposes such as the one coming from radical Islamism will try to stop its global growth. Social agents in Iraq, for instance, are in the middle between two worlds: the Western world with its easy promises of economical success and democratic values imposed with the force and the world of Al-Qaeda and the radical extremism presenting itself as the only way. Ultimately, it is argued that from this religious opposition to the global market we can retrieve the link between religion and economy as shown by Weber, Mark and Foucault. As social agents in the Western world we have to rethink our ethics in such a way that we consumers learn how to contrast the global companiesÕ goals of super-profits regardless of the consumers« and the employees« rights.