Lecture 4 Theories of globalisation 15 March 2006 the "g-word" * Globe (from L. globus) 1551 "sphere," "round mass, sphere" * Sense of "planet earth," or a three-dimensional map of it first used in 1553 * Globalization first used in 1959 * 1962: the noun appears in the Oxford English dictionary * But three decades passed before G was developed in social sciences as a paradigm Hyperinflation in the use of the term * G is applied to almost everything * "the most abused word of the 21st century" (The Economist) * G is both a discursive and a descriptive concept -- how we understand G has much to do with our political views and theoretical standing * G is a terrain of conflicting discourses How to explain G? * Because G has many layers and dimensions, a good theory must explain its complexity * A theory needs to be adaptable in defining G because the world is changing: "a new world society" is still being formed: * The "global age" needs a new theory Theories of G (Lechner & Boli, 2005) * 1. World system theory * 2. Neorealism/neoliberal institutionalism * 3. World polity theory * 4. World culture theory 1. World System Theory * Reflected in readings from Immanuel Wallerstein, Leslie Sklair * In the 1950s, the dominant theory was modernisation theory; its problem was that some countries were not developing/ modernising as predicted -- evidence did not fit theory e hence... 1. World System Theory * WST developed out of attempt to explain the failure of certain states to develop * Looking at Latin America, their economies could not compete, global capitalism forced certain countries into under-development * Trade is asymmetrical * Poor countries are dependent on rich states 1. World System Theory * Key concepts: * CORE: rich & developed states * PERIPHERY: poor & dependent states * SEMI-PERIPHERY: the `in-between' tampon zone; semi-industrialised states * Semiperiphery keeps the system stable 1. World System Theory * Trade & investment concentration * The core dictates the terms of trade * Dependency makes the situation of peripheral states even worse (they may even lose their political autonomy) * The world system perpetuates dominance by the core & dependency of the periphery * G perpetuates inequality -- global economic system is inherently unfair 1. World System Theory * International organisations do not influence the fundamental position of core and periphery because most NGOs and IGOs are created by core countries * The idea that governments and international institutions can make the system `fair' is an illusion (because they always reflect interests of capitalists) 2. Neorealism * Realism and Neorealism dominant in IR theory for several decades * Realism's central claim: states are dominant actors in world politics; driven by desire to survive and become more powerful (war, military competition) * Critique of R: states no longer in constant struggle for survival; economic and social issues matter; R better suited to explain 18^th and 19^th c. situation 2. Neoliberal institutionalism * Reflected in Robert Keohane & Joseph Nye: complex interdependence * Critical response to realism: * G produces a more complex system of interdependent states; societies are interconnected in many ways; power and security are not the only thing that matters -- states interact over many different kinds of issues 2. Neoliberal institutionalism * Military force is no longer seen as being central to inter-state relations; international organisations are the centre of global politics * To understand global politics, we have to study what goes on in international organisations (e.g. WTO) 2. Neoliberal institutionalism * World society contains many centres of power; there is no one, single power hierarchy * Transnational rules and organisations now have much more influence * States are still important but the system is one of interdependence - other organisations also influence world politics in critical ways * The use of force is less effective; no hierarchy of issues exists that would be the same for all states 3. World polity theory * Developed in response to modernisation theory, WST and R * Reflected in John W. Meyer et.al. * Polity = activities and associations of the public, political sphere * World polity = political structures, associations and culture in the international sphere 3. World polity theory * Contrary to observations of other theories, WPT is focused on the fact that societies have been becoming more similar in terms of their government and state policies * Isomorphism: * "trying to account for a world whose societies ... are structurally similar in many unexpected dimensions and change in unexpectedly similar ways" 3. World polity theory * States govern on the basis of cognitive models (which come from the culture and society) -- associations, IGOs and NGOs and other states transmit models of how to govern * Worldwide models are constructed and reproduced through global cultural and associational processes -- "models embedded in an overarching world culture" * States modify their `traditions' in the direction of "world-cultural forms/prescriptions/principles" * WPT is based on a totally different theory of action: it emphasises the influence of norms and culture -- not power 4. World culture theory * A response to world polity theory * Reflected in Roland Robertson, Arjun Appadurai, Ulf Hannerz * World culture is new and important BUT it is not as homogeneous as WPT claims 4. World culture theory * World society is a complex set of relations among many different units in the "global field" * People are becoming aware of the new global reality -- the problem of how to live together in one global system * G compresses the world into a single entity; the emphasis is on cultural compression -- all cultures are becoming subcultures within a larger entity = "global ecumene" * This does not mean homogenisation but "organisation of diversity" * We will come back to creolisation, glocalisation... Readings for Lecture 5: * Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy Arjun Appadurai * The Global Ecumene Ulf Hannerz * If you want: * Roland Robertson "Glocalization: Time-Space and Homogeneity-Heterogeneity" in Global Modernities