Globalizations From Below : The Normative Power of the World Social Forum, Ant Traders, Chinese Migrants, and Levantine Cosmopolitanism

"Globalizations from Below uses a Constructivist International Relations approach that emphasizes the centrality of normative power to analyze and compare the four globalizations 'from below'. These are: (1) the counter-hegemonic globalization represented by the 'movement of movements' of alter-globalization transnational social activists, who try to put an end to the Neoliberal nature of the Western-centered globalization 'from above;' (2) the non-hegemonic globalization enacted by 'ant traders' that are part of the transnational informal economy; (3) the partially similar Chinese-centered globalization, whose entrepreneurial migrants are strongly influenced and instrumentalized by the Chinese state; and (4) the first wave globalization 'from below' that paralleled (and outlived) the 1870-1914 globalization 'from above.' This book identifies their common features and uses them to define the concept of globalization 'from below' as a set of socio-economic or socio-political processes that involve large transnational flows of people, goods, and/or ideas characterized at least in part by informality. They are enacted by entrepreneurial or activistic individuals who either take advantage of the normative power of the hegemon at the origin of an international order and an associated globalization 'from above,' or - explicitly or implicitly - transgress, contest, and try to redefine dominant economic, legal, political, and socio-cultural norms, thus challenging the existing international order and globalization 'from above.' By constructing a unified theoretical framework, this book attempts to open a new field of interdisciplinary research that should take globalizations 'from below' out of their current scholarly marginality. This is one of the first scholarly works to collectively present more than one globalization 'from below,' and will be of great interest to students, scholars, and researchers of International Relations, International Political Economy, Development Studies, Economic History, Anthropology, Diaspora Studies, and Chinese Studies"-- Provided by publisher Globalizations from Below uses a Constructivist International Relations approach that emphasizes the centrality of normative power to analyze and compare the four globalizations ‘from below’. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Acknowledgments 12 Preface 14 1 Introduction 16 2 Globalizations and Normative Power: Theoretical Aspects 26 2.1 The Western-Centered Globalization ‘from Above’ and the American-Led International Order 27 2.2 Normative Power 31 The United States as a Normative Power 33 Normative Power and Globalizations ‘from Above’ and ‘from Below’ 35 2.3 The Emerging Chinese-Led International Order and the Chinese-Centered Globalization ‘from Above’ 38 China as a Normative Power 41 China’s Norms 44 The Belt and Road Initiative 45 Socialization of Elites and the Chinese- Centered Globalization ‘from Above’ 48 2.4 The First Wave Globalization ‘from Above’ 54 Hegemony, Liberalism, and Paradoxes 61 2.5 The Globalizations’ Triangle 66 2.6 Transnationalism 68 3 The Counter-Hegemonic Globalization ‘from Below’ 86 3.1 A ‘Movement of Movements’ 86 The Global Justice Movement 91 The Programmatic Dimension 97 3.2 Political Resistance: The ‘Battle of Seattle’ and the World Social Forum 104 The World Social Forum 106 Yellow Vests at a Tea Party 109 3.3 Legal Resistance: Challenging Intellectual Property Rights 113 4 The Non-Hegemonic Globalization ‘from Below’ 121 4.1 Informal Economy and ‘Ant Trade’ 122 The Rise of the ‘Ant Traders’ 124 4.2 Defining the Non-Hegemonic Globalization ‘from Below’ 130 Structure, Agency, and International Relations Theories 132 Informality, Power, and Resistance 135 Interacting Globalizations and Ambiguity 139 4.3 Practical Resistance: Challenging Intellectual Property Rights 141 Counterfeit, Resistance, and Fake Modernity 146 4.4 Social Networks and Diasporas 147 4.5 Production Centers, Flows, and Nodes 154 4.6 Guangzhou’s ‘Chocolate City’ 157 Sino-African Tensions 165 Understanding the African Presence 170 4.7 La Salada’s Baroque Economies 173 The ‘Informal State’ 178 Plebeian Democracy, Proletarian Microeconomies, and Neoliberalism ‘from Below’ 181 4.8 Normative Clashes, Ambiguities, and Agency 186 5 The Chinese-Centered Globalization ‘from Below’ 202 5.1 From ‘Ant Traders’ to Entrepreneurial Migrants 203 A Highly Mobile Middleman Minority 206 5.2 The Influence of the Chinese State 211 ‘Upgrading’ – and Instrumentalizing – the Migrant 215 The Overseas Chinese State 218 ‘Working’ the Overseas Chinese 222 Incentives 227 Co-Opting the ‘Old’ Migrants 229 5.3 The Chinese Entrepreneurial Migrants in Ghana 230 The Chinese ‘Ant Traders’ in Ghana 235 Vulnerability 237 Beijing’s Influence 240 Galamsey and Social Conditionality 241 5.4 Defining a Complex Globalization 246 Interacting Globalizations and Normative Power 250 6 The First Wave Globalization ‘from Below’ 260 6.1 Cosmopolitanism and Extraterritoriality in Semi-Colonial Port Cities 261 Semi-Colonialism 263 Extraterritoriality 269 Cosmopolitanism 272 Levantine Cosmopolitanism 277 Treaty Port Cosmopolitanism in China 281 6.2 The First Wave Globalization ‘from Below’ in Alexandria 285 Khedives and Great Powers 286 Alexandria and Its Foreigners 288 A City Run by Non-Egyptians 292 Alexandria’s Ethnic Minorities and the Globalization ‘from Below’ 295 6.3 The First Wave Globalization ‘from Below’ in Shanghai 303 Concessions-based Semi-Colonialism 303 A City Run by the Non-Chinese 306 Shanghai’s National Minorities and the Globalization ‘ from Below’ 314 6.4 Of Globalizations and Modernities 322 7 A Constructivist Theory of Globalizations ‘from Below’ 333 7.1 Theoretical Considerations 334 Normative Power, Agency, and Constructivism 335 7.2 Globalizations ‘from Below’ – Characteristics and Definition 346 Enemies and In-Group Clashes 346 Features 350 Definition 359 7.3 The Future of the Globalizations ‘from Below’ 360 Index 372 Globalization;,from,Below;,from,Above;,Normative,Power;,World,Social,Forum;,Ant,Trade;,Chinese;,Levantine,Cosmopolitanism;,Constructivist;,International,Order;,Belt,and,Road;,Hegemony;,Liberalism;,Transnationalism;,Battle,of,Seattle;,La,Salada;,Democracy;,Neoliberalism;,Economy;,Migrant;,Colonialism;,Extraterritoriality;,Cosmopolitanism;,First,Wave;,Transnational,Flows;,International,Relations;,International,Political,Economy;,Entrepreneur Globalization,from Below,from Above,Normative Power,World Social Forum,Ant Trade,Chinese,Levantine Cosmopolitanism,Constructivist,International Order,Belt and Road,Hegemony,Liberalism,Transnationalism,Battle of Seattle,La Salada,Democracy,Neoliberalism,Economy,Migrant,Colonialism,Extraterritoriality,Cosmopolitanism,First Wave,Transnational Flows,International Relations,International Political Economy,Entrepreneur