Week 10: GLOBALIZATION

“There is a great deal more disagreement than agreement among political sociologists regarding the existence, duration, and impact of globalization. Alasuutari (2000) has criticized sociologists for confusing cause and effect in their examination of globalization. Using the compression of time and space as an example, if this is an effect of globalization, what is the cause? Sociologists are criticized for saying globalization ! If the compression of time and space is a characteristic of globalization, what causes that? Is it technological innovation, the needs of capitalism, or something else? Readers of this chapter have a variety of answers to choose from depending upon which theoretical perspective seems most convincing.
It may well be a long time before sociologists have a theory of globalization but that is not to say that efforts to understand globalization have been fruitless. We have reviewed many interesting theoretical ideas and sociological questions that will continue to stimulate research for decades to come. To quote Guillén (2001), globalization is not “civilizing, destructive, or feeble” but is a real phenomenon that is transforming every social institution, including the nation-state in ways that have both positive and negative consequences for all. Whether the nation-state is transforming every social institution, including the nation-state in ways that have both positive and negative consequences for all. Whether the nation-state is transforming into a national state as part of a TNS or a type of global governance systems such as Empire, or something else, is unknown. Regardless, political sociologists will be there to observe, explain, and critique the transformation.