Globalization, the State, and Violence

Friedman and a distinguished group of contributors offer a compelling analysis of globalization and the lethal explosiveness that characterizes the current world order. In particular, they investigate global processes and political forces that determine networks of crime, commerce and terror, and reveal the economic, social and cultural fragmentation of transnational networks. In a critical introduction, Friedman evaluates how transnational capital represents a truly global force, but geographical decentralization of accumulation still leads to declining state hegemony in some areas and increasing hegemony in others. The authors examine the growth and increasing autonomy of indigenous populations, and the massively destabililizing effect of migration processes. They describe the rapid increase in criminalization of ethnic and immigrant groups as well as an increase in class stratification, creating new forms of social confrontation and violence. In addition to ethnic, identity-based conflict there are analyses of transnational criminal networks, which also represents disintegration of larger homogeneous territories or hierarchical orders. The authors ask us to reevaluate the dynamics of globalization--the contradictions of centralization and fragmentation around the world--as we discover how best to transform these conditions for the future. This research was originally funded by the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. Globalization, the State and Violence will be a valuable reference in anthropology, social theory, international politics and economics, ethnic conflict, immigration, and economic history. A Dozen Essays By Us And European Urbanists, Anthropologists, Sociologists, And Political Scientists Develop An Approach To Understanding The Increasing Violence That Has Occurred On A Global Scale Over The Past Couple Decades, And Try To Construct A More Adequate Comprehension Of Global Processes Than Has Been Provided In The Language Of Globalization. Among The Topics Are Class Projects, Social Consciousness, And The Contradictions Of Globalization; And The Case For Citizenship As Social Contract. Globalization, Dis-integration, Re-organization : The Transformations Of Violence / Jonathan Friedman -- Class Projects, Social Consciousness, And The Contradictions Of Globalization / Terence Turner -- Economic Globalization And The Redrawing Of Citizenship / Saskia Sassen -- Beyond The Informal Economy : New Trends In Post-fordist Transition / Simone Ghezzi And Enzo Mingione -- The New Paradigm Of Violence / Michel Wieviorka -- The Case For Citizenship As Social Contract : A Tale Of Two Girls / Unni Wikan -- American Neoliberalism, Globalization, And Violence : Reflections From The United States And Southeast Asia / Donald M. Nonini -- Killing Me Softly : Violence, Globalization, And The Apparent State / Nina Glick Schiller And Georges Fouron -- Sorcery And The Shapes Of Globalization Disjunctions And Continuities : The Case Of Sri Lanka / Bruce Kapferer -- Imagining Monsters : A Structural History Of Warfare In Chad (1968-1990) / Steve Reyna -- Trouble Spots : Projects, Bandits, And State Fragmentation / Steven Sampson -- State Classes, The Logic Of Rentier Power And Social Disintegration : Global Parameters And Local Structures Of The Decline Of The Congo / Kajsa Ekholm Friedman. Edited By Jonathan Friedman. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. An analysis of globalization and the global structuring of violence. In particular, the contributors investigate the complex processes of cultural fragmentation and of the formation of transnational networks: economic, social and cultural. In a critical introductory essay, Jonathan Friedman evaluates how transnational capital represents a truly global force, but geographical decentralization of accumulation still leads to declining hegemony in some areas and increasing hegemony in others. The contributors examine indigenous populations which have become increasingly organized and victorious in battles over land and cultural autonomy. Migration processes are analyzed as massively destabilizing phenomena in the world, in which ethnification of such groups has led to fragmentation of former national unity, resulting in new transnational identities, cultures and social existences. The authors describe the rapid increase in criminalization of ethnic and immigrant groups as well as an increase in class stratification, creating new forms of social fragmentation, confrontation and violence