The goal was clear: “From the moment Ukraine was ravaged by Russia, I felt that some of the ideas I had formed about geopolitics deserved attention.” So it was and it came about, so Geopolitics, Empire and Democracy: The Rise of European Geopoliticsthe last book by Miguel Morgado, published by Dom Quixote.
Speaking to DN, in a hotel in Lisbon, the university professor and former political adviser to Passos Coelho (from 2011 to 2015) explains that, despite the “very important role” played by Portugal “in a key period of the emergence of the European geopolitics” (the Discoveries), the “great figure” in the book is another: a Spaniard named Bartolomeu de las Casas. WHO? “A Sevillian, Dominican monk, who will mobilize Catholic moral theology for the protection of the IndiansSomething that will be done “more or less a hundred years later” by a Portuguese man, Father António Vieira.
“Cancel culture and awakened ideology are harmful and utterly pernicious problems.”
In fact, it is Christian morality that, according to Miguel Morgado, allows a “very modern” debate about the imperialist and colonialist past, which he classifies as something “very European”. “Contrary to what people think, they are very wrong if they think they have to free themselves from the structures of European thought,” he criticizes, continuing: “Outside the structures of European thought, this debate is not possible “. Why? There is a “distinctive factor”: the “Christian roots”, since “the humanists of the time were on the wrong side, it was the friars of the Dominican orders who were on the right side”. These qualities – which served to “control the worst excesses” – are disappearing from societies, Miguel Morgado believes: “Like the moral resources we have had until now, to control the worst excesses (unlike other civilizations that not mastered), we lose them too, in this case the Christian root.”
Still, the debate on this topic is fair. “It is very important that we have no illusions about our past,” says the also former PSD deputy (between 2015 and 2019). “I don’t care if there is revisionism. They have to be historically correct and most of them are not. Then they have to be honest about the circumstances they were facing at the time and how they developed.”, says Miguel Morgado. This means that, for example, only talking about the “transatlantic slave trade is an aberration. The phenomenon of slavery was universal in human civilization. When this happens,there is clearly a sectarian ideological-political use of a far more important phenomenon than that. These are maneuvers of party sectors that want to win political cause. It doesn’t matter at all” accuses.
“Cancellation is a neutralization of the critical mind”
Despite the apparent sectarianism and tense positions in the debate on this subject, Miguel Morgado believes there is room – and indeed exists – for a less heated discussion. “It existed. It doesn’t attract much attention, but there are a lot of people writing books, articles and even debates in universities and beyond,” says the author.
At a time when the effects and applications of the so-called cancel culture (cancel culture), can these debates be harmed? “This is a kind of cancer that undermines the vitality of European culture itself when it is critical of itself,” says Miguel Morgado, who classifies the cancellation as “by definition a kind of neutralization of the critical mind.”
“I don’t mind revisionism. They have to be historically accurate and most of them aren’t. Then they have to be fair to the circumstances they faced at the time and how they evolved.”
According to the university professor, both the cancellation culture and the ideology woke up (which debates and advocates are for raising awareness of issues such as racism and slavery). “problems that must be overcome because they are harmful and even toxic to our ability to develop freedom and conceptions of justice appropriate to our times. They are ultra-pernicious factors”refers.
And, after writing about authority and sovereignty, what now? “I want to finish the trilogy of the principles of political order: authority, sovereignty and love. The third part is missing. It is already quite advanced. I am also preparing a book that I hope to finish in the coming weeks. , about conservatism And then I have one that is also quite advanced on capitalism, on the spirit of the market economy, because it has also been a focus of discussion in the European consciousness for the last 150 years – and it still hasn’t the case. It’s over,” reveals Miguel Morgado.
Source: DN
