The freedom of the free in the techno-economic era An unresolved challenge

Abstract

The last decades of the 20th century saw a re-organisation of social structures based on the global techno-economic system. In this context, freedom becomes equal to the indefinite increase in possibilities and the self-determination of the individual, a one-sided decoupling in line with the idea of an absolute freedom.

The current crisis we find ourselves in demonstrates the necessity for solutions, not only of a technological nature, but that are able to take into account the different aspects of social life and create a balance. Thus, the challenge is to attempt to rethink freedom from its internal relational matrix. This article aims to offer a contribution to the ongoing debate on freedom and explores freedom in the context of a new model for human coexistence and social development. It suggests shifting the vision of freedom based on quantitative growth and consumption to a more advanced perspective of social organisation, in which “generative” freedom reflects a relational anthropological vision.