The individual is such because, in many ways forged by the socio-cultural environment in which he or she are borne, develop and educated. Hence the cultural context creates the individual unique as such and at the same time influences he or she in its uniqueness. Even in the past centuries the cultural context has been multicultural, it is sufficient to recall the many cultures that have either coexisted or over lapped within a given historical moment in my own country, Italy. I could, by my choice, start by recalling the roman culture influenced by the prisoners brought into Rome from many Mediterranean countries or the Middle East or by the influences by invaded countries. All brought their values or influenced from the external such as from what is today Rumania, but all did infiltrate the Romans culture and hence influenced values. I could go on through the centuries only in relation of my country and see the overlapping of cultures which mean influences on values hence choices hence impact on society.
The individuality which emerges is richer and may interchange over and over starting from the family, the spirituality shared trough the family or education as well as different relations in life forges the individual. So individuality is per se multifaceted and hence capable or not, according to the context, to remain closed in its individuality or open to other individualities so as to be able to coexist and grow. I have deepened some how the issue of multicultural Rome and later multicultural Italy which, to survive, acquired modes of life that made multicultural coexistence possible. It is a long time process that each part of the world has gone and is ever more rapidly going through, in different manners but has to be recalled , when facing the “Relationships between the individual and the social collective” as the issue of peaceful coexistence, at least, has to be gained.
These are thoughts emerging from history but this is not now sufficient and this is why the project is so important. What present recognition and indeed, given great continuous changes and exchanges between different individualities and socio-cultural contexts may become in the upcoming futures one of the most important issues. This is not only important in general terms but is related to what is the responsibility that each individual has in relation to its social collective from which it has been forged, that is towards futures generations. This is why it is important to search in the “Relationships between the individual and the social collective”. for seeds of change in whatever direction they seam to lead so as to gear the relationship in the best possible direction.
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