Introduction: Whither ‘the Global’?

Abstract

The proliferation of globalization-speak in the last decade of the twentieth century raises some critical questions about the current configurations of this discourse on the ‘global’. What does the idea of ‘globalization’ at present signify? What meanings are attached to this term within differing enunciations of the discourse? What economic, political, and cultural shifts is this discursive formation marked by? What is the relationship between the contemporary discussions around ‘globalization’ and the historical processes of globalization? These are some of the main questions with which this book is concerned.