Globalization and the Future of the City of London: Enduring Hegemony

Abstract

Globalization is one of the most hotly debated topics within the social sciences, and certainly one that has captured our imagination when looking toward the future. Globalization is not only the present, but also the future of politics and economics, and no discussion regarding future scenarios can avoid addressing it. How does globalization affect the future of the City of London? Does financial globalization signal the end of the City’s hegemony or guarantee its future success? Questions related to how globalization affects domestic actors cannot be disentangled from a more general and in-depth analysis of globalization and its impact on the nation state. The next section deals with globalization’s impact on the nation state from different international political economy perspectives, while the second part of the chapter assesses the impact of different definitions of globalization on the future of the City of London. Conclusions follow on whether globalization limits or favors the hegemonic position of the British financial sector.