Godfrey Baldacchino | Smallness - Some Critical Reflections | 6 May 2024 скачать в хорошем качестве

Godfrey Baldacchino | Smallness - Some Critical Reflections | 6 May 2024

In this talk held by Philosophy Sharing, Godfrey Baldacchino, Professor of Sociology at the University of Malta and Malta's Ambassador-at-Large for islands and small states, shares his life's entire journey that has been grappling with smallness. He spent the first 20 years of his adult life fascinated by meteors, the smallest particles in the solar system. He observed, plotted and analysed their features and built knowledge on how they throw light on the origins and constitution of our solar system. He then spent the next 20 years of his adult life fascinated by small islands and small states, the smallest members of the community of nations. He visited, observed, analysed their features and built knowledge on how small islands and states can throw light in international relations, sustainable development and climate action and indeed the future of our planet. Prof Baldacchino also spent 40 years working on and with workers and trade unions, looking at alternative forms of industrial relations that can survive in spite of an economic system dominated by large multinational corporations. Prof Baldacchino's concluding assessment in this talk is that small size does not exclude agency or vote. Being effectively agentic depends on competence and confidence, smartly sensing opportunities, being prepared to surprise others rather than being cowed by them, and cultivating in the process even unlikely alliances.