INTRODUCTION Sitsan Manning T his special issue of JWSR seeks to explore the history, present reality, and future implications of globalization. The papers published here were originally presented at the XIV World Congress of Sociology (July 26 - August 1, 1998, Montreal, Canada) in two sessions organized by Volker Bornschier and Christopher Chase-Dunn on "The Future of Globaliza- tion:'They have been anonymously reviewed and revised for this issue. While the notion of globalization has assumed wide currency in popu- lar and academic circles, it is too often employed without having been clearly defined. Globalization has thus become a buzzword of sorts, whose use can, on occasion, obscure more than it reveals. Inadequate definition is rarely conducive to clear and insightful analysis, and indeed, common misconcep- tions about globalization persist There are three main ways that I believe that the papers in this issue may contribute to a resolution of these shortcomings in the discourse about globalization. First, they should help us to construct a more precise and useful defini- tion of the phenomenon we want to investigate. Along these lines, Leslie Sklair argues that the global must be analytically distinguished from the international-while the former refers to processes that transcend the nation-state; the latter concept continues to rely upon states as the unit of analysis. Second, and related, several of these essays provide a critical, and much needed, historical perspective on current trends. Since globalization is gen- erally discussed in reference to the present day, the concept left undefined is easily, and inaccurately, equated with what is taking place right now. This tendency reflects and contributes to the idea that globalization is a new or recent development. Systematic examinations by Arrighi and Chase- Dunn reveal, however, that globalization is not new, but has occurred (and JOURNAL OF WORLD-SYSTEMS RESEARCH, VOL V, 2, SUMMER 1999, 137-141 hap:!!jwsr.ucr.edu! ISSN 1076-156X © 1999 Susan Manning 137 138 Susan Manning recurred) over a period of centuries. By comparing successive waves of glo- balization, the world-systems approach forces a more exact definition of the phenomenon and provides crucial insights into the dynamic of its develop- ment over time. Third, some of the articles in this special issue contest the erroneous assumption that globalization refers only to the activities of elites. Indeed, those who mainly direct and carry out the changes commonly referred to as globalization are powerful economic and political actors, the transnational corporation being the prototypical example. Moreover, as is often noted, globalization tends to favor the interests of the powerful over the weak, of capital over labor, and of the core over the periphery. Nonetheless, there exist many examples of'globalization from below": popular communication and organization across local and national boundaries that pose a challenge to the large organizations and institutions that control globalization from above. The articles by Moghadam, Bond, Markoff, Urry and Friedman pro- vide examples of this. Various dimensions or aspects of globalization have been identified, the most important of which are economic, political, and cultural. Economic globalization generally refers to expansion and intensification of interna- tional trade and investment; political globalization to the organization of transnational governmental and regulatory institutions and the diffusion of liberal political ideology and institutional forms; and cultural globalization, often but not always, to the spread of Western ideas and cultural practices. The essays included here were not intended to provide a comprehensive review of all aspects of globalization. With the exceptions of Friedman, and to lesser extent Sklair, the authors emphasize economic and political over cultural globalization. Even despite this, important elements of political and economic globalization remain largely unexamined. To take one example, none of the papers focus on the emergence of global governance structures, which many would argue to be a crucial aspect of the globalization process. Nonetheless, these papers cover a rather broad spectrum of approaches to the study of globalization. Many of them defy easy categorization, so I have not tried to impose much order, other than beginning with the most general. If there is a unifying characteristic to all the articles, it is the critical perspective they take on globalization and its consequences. INTRODUCTION 139 To start, Leslie Sklair reviews the literature on globalization and catego- rizes it into distinct tendencies, emphasizing the disparity between those who focus on the economic aspects of globalization and those whose pri- mary concern lies in the realm of culture. He argues forthe'global capitalism" approach as the most productive for theory and research on globalization. Volker Bornschier discusses the strengths and weaknesses of global market society in the wake of far-reaching changes in its economic and polit- ical context, including the demise of state socialist societies and the spread of democratic institutions. He identifies environmental destruction, inequality among market participants, the continued coexistence of the market with undemocratic political forms, and the problem of expanding state coordina- tion beyond the bounds of the nation-state as the key failures that must be corrected if the global market is to contribute to peace and expanded pros- perity. Chase-Dunn investigates the process of globalization from a world-sys- tems perspective, finding that globalization has progressed differently in dif- ferent arenas over the past century. Operationalizing trade and investment globalization, Chase-Dunn finds a cyclical pattern of economic globaliza- tion. A wave of economic integration at the end of the nineteenth century was followed by a reversion to national autarchy; another wave of integra- tion began after World War IL The author hypothesizes that political and cultural globalization lag behind economic globalization, and discusses the need for political globalization of popular movements to counter the neolib- eral globalization project. Giovanni Arrighi points out that the present-day global market emerged only in the 1950s, under U.S. hegemony, and he compares it to the British- led global market of the late 19th century. In both cases, the globalization of commerce and trade was a product of the expansion of world produc- tion under a hegemonic power. Eventually, however, expansion leads to the overaccumulation of capital, and profitable outlets for investment in trade and production disappear. This creates rapid growth of speculative activity and the globalization of financial markets. Crisis in "rising centers," such as East Asia today, is a natural consequence. Gernot Kohler proposes global Keynesianism as an analytical perspec- tive and political -economic program that would synthesize world-systems theory with left-Keynesianism and possibly serve as a corrective to some of 140 Susan .Manning the ill effects of globalization. He argues for the central importance of the problem of demand-on a global level, structured inequality of access to money and purchasing power-to achieving development. The globaliza- tion of production, in which capital has sought out cheaper labor, and the globalization of finance, which has removed money from the "real economy," have exacerbated the imbalance of supply and effective demand. John Markoff discusses the challenge posed to democracy by globaliza- tion. He contends that despite the widespread adoption of formally demo- cratic institutions and practices since the 1970s, substantive democratization is threatened by the shift in power away from states and toward transna- tional institutions that have remained largely impervious to popular over- sight or control. Paradoxically, as government has democratized, the scope and effectiveness of government decision-making has contracted. John Urry explores the question of whether (and if so, how) globaliza- tion is giving rise to new forms of global citizenship not based in the nation- state. For instance, as awareness of environmental risk has come to the fore, the inability of nations to unilaterally contain such risks within their bor- ders has grown increasingly apparent. As a consequence, Urry asserts, a new notion of"ecological citizenship'' has emerged that specifies rights and responsibilities independent of national membership. Ranveig Gissinger and Nils Petter Gleditsch consider the impact of eco- nomic globalization on civil war and political instability. They find that in general a country's trade openness is associated with domestic peace. Exports of agricultural products, however, tend to generate inequality, which can in turn generate instability. Direct foreign investment likewise contributes to inequality and political unrest. The consequences of globalization are thus mixed: openness appears to promote peace for wealthier countries, while undermining it for poor ones. Valentine Moghadam addresses the complex and somewhat contradic- tory effects that globalization has had on women workers and feminist activ- ism. The internationalization of production has drawn large numbers of women into the formal and informal labor force, providing them with new opportunities while subjecting them to new forms of exploitation. Mean- while, the structural adjustment policies associated with global economic integration have disproportionately harmed women, especially poor women. In response to these developments, Moghadam asserts, women have orga- INTRODUCTION 141 nized around economic as well as exclusively gender-based issues, forming transnational feminist networks unprecedented in their size and numbers. Jonathan Friedman examines the relationship between globalization and indigenous struggles. He argues that global integration and the decline of U.S. hegemony have given rise to a countervailing fragmentation of iden- tity, which has contributed to the proliferation and heightened visibility of movements for indigenous rights.Finally, Patrick Bond critiques the finan- cial aspects of globalization, asserting that unfettered flows of speculative capital have produced economic crisis in many areas of the world. He delin- eates the range of opposition to neoliberal orthodoxy, and concludes that the role of "New Social Movements" in countering financial globalization with 'globalization of people" will be crucial in bringing about progressive change.