Global Dimensions: Space, Place and the Contemporary World (Reaktion Books - Focus on Contemporary Issues)

Globalization is one of today's most powerful and pervasive ideas – for some a welcome dream, for others a nightmare. The term is used in the popular press as a sort of shorthand for the notion that all parts of the world are becoming more alike. It is also used as a marketing concept to sell goods, commodities and services. "Going global" has become the mantra for a whole range of companies, business gurus and institutions.John Rennie Short disagrees with this interpretation, arguing that the world today actually thrives on local differences and that a global polity tends to reinforce – not repress – the power of individual nation-states. He insists that globalization is not so much replacing difference with sameness as providing opportunities for new interactions between spaces and locations, new connections between the global and the local, new social landscapes and more diversity rather than less. "Globalization" is one of today's most powerful and persuasive ideas -- for some a welcome dream, for others a nightmare. It is used in the popular press, magazines, and news reports as a sort of shorthand for saying that the world is becoming more alike. The business press, in particular, insists that we are moving toward a fully integrated global economy. It is also used as a marketing concept to sell goods, commodities, and services. Going global has become the mantra for a whole range of companies, business gurus, and institutions.Globalization is supposed to be bringing everyone closer together and making everywhere the same, but John Rennie Short disagrees, arguing that the world culture of today actually thrives on local differences, that a global polity tends to reinforce -- not repress -- the power of individual nation states, and that the global economy is based in reality on countless localized places scattered throughout the world. The author shows that the concept of globalization as a process that is creating a standardized, more homogenous world is hopelessly unsophisticated. He insists that globalization does not so much replace difference with sameness as provide opportunities for new interactions between spaces and locations, new connections between the global and the local, new social landscapes and more diversity around the world rather than less.Global Dimensions is a fascinating book that questions the achievements and virtues of the global, and in turn celebrates the resilience and worth of the local. Globalization is one of today's most powerful and pervasive ideas – for some a welcome dream, for others a nightmare. The term is used in the popular press as a sort of shorthand for the notion that all parts of the world are becoming more alike. It is also used as a marketing concept to sell goods, commodities and services.'Going global'has become the mantra for a whole range of companies, business gurus and institutions. John Rennie Short disagrees with this interpretation, arguing that the world today actually thrives on local differences and that a global polity tends to reinforce – not repress – the power of individual nation-states. He insists that globalization is not so much replacing difference with sameness as providing opportunities for new interactions between spaces and locations, new connections between the global and the local, new social landscapes and more diversity rather than less. Globalization is one of today's most powerful and pervasive ideas for some a welcome dream, for others a nightmare. The term is used in the popular press as a sort of shorthand for the notion that all parts of the world are becoming more alike. It is also used as a marketing concept to sell goods, commodities and services. "Going global" has become the mantra for a whole range of companies, business gurus and institutions. John Rennie Short disagrees with this interpretation, arguing that the world today actually thrives on local differences and that a global polity tends to reinforce not repress the power of individual nation-states. He insists that globalization is not so much replacing difference with sameness as providing opportunities for new interactions between spaces and locations, new connections between the global and the local, new social landscapes and more diversity rather than less. Imprint page......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 1 The Dialectics of Globalization......Page 9 2 What Time is this Place?......Page 23 3 Does a Global Polity Mean the End of the Nation–State?......Page 53 4 A Global Economy?......Page 89 5 Global Cultures......Page 117 6 Border Spaces......Page 137 7 The Annihilation of Space, the Tyranny of Time......Page 161 8 Democratizing Globalization......Page 181 References......Page 187 Select Bibliography......Page 189 Acknowledgements......Page 191 List of Illustrations......Page 192 John Rennie Short. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 187-[188]).