ABSTRACT
September 11 and its violent aftermath have motivated people everywhere to reflect intensely on the meanings and implications of their cultural realities and futures.This reflection takes place at a time in history when ‘Culture’ as a normative social force that inscribes values and regulates behavior is being confronted by the pervasive decentralization of life experience and the dramatic rise of the individual as a personal cultural decision-maker.1 As Ulrich Beck has pointed out:
The ethic of individual self-fulfillment and achievement is the most powerful current in modern society.The choosing, deciding, shaping human being who aspires to be author of his or her own life, the creator of individual identity, is the central character of our time.
