The death of globalisation theory or the end of yet another revolution?

• Published in: Politička misao Vol. 45; no. 1; pp. 3 - 28
• Main Author: Kursar, Tonci
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Croatian; English
• Published: 01.01.2008
• Subjects: Arendt, Hannah; Discourse analysis; Globalization; International relations theory; Nation state; Political philosophy; Social construction; Social Theories; Sociological Theory; Supranationalism; Transnationalism
• ISSN: 0032-3241

The author discusses some recent changes in the theoretical literature on globalization. He claims that the irreversibility of the globalization process is no longer taken for granted as in the enthusiastic literature on the subject during the 1990's. The globalization is no longer regarded as an untouchable structure, and for over a decade now, we are witnessing an overall questioning of the globalization process itself. Therefore, the author pays special attention to the theoretical works of Justin Rosenberg who claims that the age of globalization is over. For Rosenberg, the globalization was only an ideological construction supported by the so called globalization theory which has failed in all its aspects: as a general social theory, as a historical and sociological argument and as a basis for interpretation of actual events. As opposed to Rosebenrg, the author claims that globalization should be regarded as a 'metapolitical' concept with its semantic and political functions. Using the methodological assumptions of Reinhart Koselleck, the author shows that 'metapolitical' concepts reach their intellectual and political high point by accelerating history and by transcending the actual situation. After their revolutionary peak, they disappear or they change their meaning in order to refer to the 'new reality'. Based on the insights of Hannah Arendt, the author shows that globalization has lost its revolutionary potential, but also that the end of globalization theory would not necessarily follow. Adapted from the source document.