POLS 374 Foundations of Global
Politics
Lecture 7
Explaining Globalization
Professor Timothy C. Lim
California State University, Los Angeles
tclim@calstatela.edu
Explaining Globalization
 Explaining globalization requires an
integrated, multi-dimensional theory
 Specifically, the author proposes a theory
that looks at five interrelated shifts …
2
Explaining Globalization
 … the major trend—the growth of transplanetary and
supraterritorial connectivity—is interlinked with four other
trends:
 shift from capitalism towards hypercapitalism in
respect of production
 a shift from statism towards polycentrism in respect of
governance
 a shift from nationalism toward pluralism and hybridity
in respect of identity
 a shift from rationalism towards reflexive rationality in
respect of knowledge
3
Explaining Globalization
 The author’s overall (theoretical) approach uses …
 liberalism and political realism to explain the significance
of states and other governance arrangements
 Marxism to explain the importance of capitalism
 constructivism to explain the relevance identity politics
 postmodernism to explain the role of knowledge power
 and feminism to explain the role of gender relations
4
Explaining Globalization
 Building Blocks: The Importance of Capitalism
and Production in Explaining Globalization
 Basic Point: No explanation of globalization can be
complete—or even
reasonably accurate—
without significant attention
paid to the capitalist mode
of production
5
Explaining Globalization
 What is capitalism?
 Capitalism is a social order where economic
activity is oriented first and foremost to the
accumulation of surplus—i.e., profit
6
Explaining Globalization
 Accumulation is part of a cycle
7
Explaining Globalization
 Other features of capitalist society:
 Thoroughly monetarized
 Competition-based
 Capitalism is not just an economic system, but also an
all-encompassing social system
8
Explaining Globalization
 How does capitalism spur or “cause”
globalization?




Market Expansion
Accounting practices
Asset mobility or global sourcing
Enlarged arenas of commodification
9
Explaining Globalization
 Forces of governance in globalization
 Key Point: Globalization cannot unfold
without some form of governance arrangement
10
Explaining Globalization
 Forces of governance in globalization
 Definitional Note:
 Governance here is defined rather broadly—in the
generic sense of “regulation.”
 Thus governance refers to processes whereby people
formulate, implement, enforce, and review rules to
guide their common affairs
11
Explaining Globalization
 Forces of governance in globalization
 Four ways in which governance spurs
globalization
 Provision of infrastructure
 liberalization of international transactions
 guarantees of property rights for global
capital
 sponsorship of global governance
arrangements
12
Explaining Globalization
 Forces of governance in globalization
 In sum, the author tells us that governance has played a
key role in globalization. This is hard to deny—and an
important lesson to keep in mind
 However, it’s not exactly clear how governance is a
“cause” of globalization: instead, we might think of it
as a precondition or an essential facilitating factor, for
governance itself doesn’t really necessitate
globalization (it can do just the opposite), but without
it, globalization simply isn’t possible
13
Explaining Globalization
 Forces of identity in globalization
 Circumstances surrounding the construction of identity
have promoted globalization in three main ways:
 First, national “selves” have been substantially formed and
sustained in relation to foreign “others” within a transworld
realm
 Second, a number of nations have developed in part as
transplanetary diasporas
 Third, increased attention to various non-territorial identities
(like those based in faith, gender, and race) has promoted the
growth of supraterritorial social connections
14
Explaining Globalization
 Forces of identity in globalization
 To simplify: We might say that the ability to
think globally or to conceptualize an identity
beyond the horizons of a single geographic
space can play a significant role in spurring
globalization
15
Explaining Globalization
 Forces of knowledge in globalization
 Reflects a postmodernist view, which asserts
that the ways in which knowledge is
“understood” has a fundamental impact on the
world
16
Explaining Globalization
 Forces of knowledge in globalization
 The author’s main point: Modern society
conceives of knowledge from a rationalist
perspective: rationalism, by its nature, is
premised on a universalist foundation: there is
only one truth, the truth of science, or, as one
famous saying puts it …
17
Explaining Globalization
 Forces of knowledge in globalization
Suggests that there is an unequivocal truth “out there” in the
world, waiting to be “discovered.” The truth can be hidden
from us, but the truth itself never changes.
18
Explaining Globalization
 Forces of knowledge in globalization
 The upshot: The entire planet can be united in a single
search for truth, and this truth can and should be the
basis for all societies
 This understanding of knowledge (which is inseperable
from power) can play a key role in spurring
globalization
19
Explaining Globalization
 Forces of knowledge in globalization
 A real world example: Consider Bush’s articulation of essential
truths in the world today:
 “You can't put democracy and freedom back into a box”
 “Faith crosses every border and touches every heart in every
nation”
 “Government should be ‘whenever possible, market based’”
 “You are either with us or against us”
 The Lesson: These “truths” reflect the dominant power of the United
States and Western perspectives more generally: they are portrayed as
universal truths, and therefore are thought to be unassailable. Those
who challenge these “truths” are heretics, terrorists, evil-doers,
fanatics, and so on. They don’t deserve to be heard; indeed, they
deserve to die.
20
Explaining Globalization
 Conclusion: Explaining Globalization
 To explain globalization, we need to adopt a
multidimensional perspective; we can’t afford to have
(theoretical) tunnel vision
 Explaining globalization, in other words, isn’t simple:
minimally, according to the author, it requires an
explanation that examines the interrelationship among
four aspects of capitalism, five features of state and
other governance, three qualities of national and other
identity construction, and four implications of
rationalist knowledge
21