Page 57 - Contemporary Political Sociology Globalization Politics and Power

Chapter 2

Politics in a Small World

Globalization may be defined very simply as increasing global intercon-

nectedness. It involves fl ows of goods, capital, people, information, ideas,
images, and risks across national borders, combined with the emergence
of transnational and international networks. This does not mean that
consciousness of the world as a whole is intensifying ( cf Robertson, 1992 :
8); nor that there is the creation of a new global, or “ supraterritorial ”
space beyond that of nation - states ( cf Scholte, 1996). On the contrary,
the impact that increasing global interconnectedness has on the imagina-
tion of humanity, on formal political structures, and on the spaces within
which social life is routinized is a matter of empirical study for contem-
porary political sociologists, not to be decided a priori , by defi nition (see
Albrow, 1996 : 88).
Economic globalization combined with digital communication net-
works is the main driving force of processes of globalization, especially
in terms of developing new products, services, and markets. Migration,
however, is also important, and invariably involves the contestation of
identities, loyalties, and assumptions about who “ we ” are when people
live in places different from those in which they or their parents were
born and brought up. The spread of global media similarly enables settled
ways of life to be called into question, as digital technologies and satellite
communications bring the world closer together in some ways, whilst at
the same time they allow people to opt out of shared systems of com-
munication that contributed to local and national solidarities. Increased
perceptions of risks across borders add to uncertainties. Terrorist net-
works also make use of new technologies, forms of communication and
travel, and they seem more difficult to contain now than ever before as a