Index
Histories and ideologies of globalization
Histories and ideologies of globalization serves as the thematic umbrella for researchers exploring various ideational and historical aspects involving the expansion and intensification of social relations and consciousness across world-time and world-space. While the discussion of economic matters must be a significant part of any comprehensive account of globalization, the compression of time and space also contains important ideological aspects in the form of politically charged narratives that put before the public a particular agenda of topics for discussion, questions to ask, and claims to make. The existence of these narratives and their dependence on specific historical accounts shows that globalization is not merely an objective and material process, but also a plethora of metaphors, stories, and myths that define, describe, and analyse that very process. The social forces behind these competing accounts of globalization seek to endow this concept with norms, values, and meanings that not only legitimate and advance specific power interests, but also shape the personal and collective identities of billions of people. Indeed, it is the question of whether globalization ought to be considered a 'good' or a 'bad' thing that has spawned heated debates in classrooms, boardrooms, and on the streets.
Researchers working within Histories and ideologies of globalization offer new assessments and appraisals of the shifting ideological landscape of our time. They are united in their conviction that ideas and histories are not merely pale reflections of economics or technology but powerful forces capable of affecting profound social change at the opportune moment. Research questions raised in this thematic cluster include, but are not limited, to the following:
- What is new about the ideological landscape of the twenty-first century?
- What are the core concepts of today's globalisms?
- Is globalization a recent development or is it a long-term process?
- How can we construct histories of the global?
- How do the various geographical scales (the local, national, regional) intersect in historical accounts of the global?
- How does the rising global imaginary impact conventional historiographies?