The Public Sphere and the Dialectics of Globalization

Abstract

Globalization is a term that came into fashion around 1990. It generally refers to the processes that lead to the increased density, speed and reach of transnational connections, associated with the global spread of capitalism and new information and communication technologies. Globalization can be studied in its economic, political, ecological or cultural aspects, and there is a rich scholarly literature, much of it interdisciplinary, dealing with the subject (see Eriksen, 2013; Ritzer, 2011 for overviews). Moreover, globalization can be studied as a macro-phenomenon, with a focus on the global economy, transnational companies, and so on, or as a micro-phenomenon, by focusing instead on relationships between people and small groups. It is not going away. The financial crisis of 2008 led some commentators and analysts to conclude that globalization had suffered a severe setback (see Rodrik, 2011). While this was doubtless true, at least temporarily, of global financial capitalism, other processes of economic globalization continued unimpeded in realms such as communication and migration, commodity trading and climate change prevention, although the growth rate has slowed in many parts of the world following the financial meltdown and subsequent uncertainty surrounding the euro, the fiscal deficit in the United States, and political volatility around the Mediterranean.