Globalization and the Nation State

Globalization and the Nation State

Also by Robert J. Holton Cosmopolitanisms Global Networks Making Globalization

Globalization and the Nation State Robert J. Holton Emeritus Professor and Fellow, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland SECOND EDITION palgrave macmillan

* Robert 1. Holton 1998,2011 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 2nd edition 2011 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1 N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First edition 1998 Second edition 2011 Published by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin's Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-0-333-65784-3 ISBN 978-1-349-26636-4 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-26636-4 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Holton, R. J. Globalization and the nation state 1 Robert J. Holton. - 2nd ed. p.cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-230-27456-3 (pbk.) 1. International economic relations. 2. International trade. 3. Nation-state. 4. International economic relations-social aspects. 5. Cultural relations. I. TItle. HF1359.H648 2011 306---<lc22 2011008062 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11

Contents List of Tables and Figures Acknowledgements viii IX 1 Introduction to the Second Edition 1 Debate and Controversy 2 Globalization and Inequality 4 Globalization and the Environment 5 Limits to Globalization 6 Understanding Globalization: Old Themes and New Challenges 9 Global Complexities 11 The Robustness of the Nation State 13 Nationalism and Ethnicity 15 Understanding Globalization: Questions of Time and Space 16 The History and Geography of Globalization 17 One World or Many? 21 Definitions, Concepts and Representations 23 Globalization and the Need for a Multidisciplinary Research Base 27 The Author's Social Location 28 Book Plan: Linking Globalization with the Nation State 29 2 The Long History of Globalization 31 Preliminary Issues 32 History of Global Structures and Networks 34 Globalization and Civilization 40 Understanding Globalization: Seeing the World as a Single Place 46 Summarizing Why Images of the World Matter 51 Four Images of World Order 53 Globalization, the Great Divide and Alternative Global Histories 55 Recent Phases in the History of Globalization 57 Concluding Remarks 61 v

vi Contents 3 The Global Economy 64 The Recent Intensification of Economic Globalization 66 Some Contours of Economic Globalization 68 The Multinational Enterprise: Global Organization of Production and Consumption 72 Global Marketing and the Consumer 76 The Wider Institutionalization of the Global Economy 80 Organizations and Networks 81 Institutional Regulation of the Global Economy 84 The Global Economy, Global Regulation and the Nation State 89 Economic Regulation: An Unequal Multi-actor System 92 Conclusion 95 4 Is the Nation State Finished? 97 Defining the Nation State 98 Variations and Commonalities Among Nation States in Relation to Global Challenges 99 Globalization and the Sovereignty of the State 103 Global Capitalism, MNEs and the Nation State 110 Dilemmas Facing the Nation State 114 Are there State-Based Alternatives to Corporate Capitalism? 116 Multinationals and the Third World 117 The Historical Dynamic of the Nation State 120 Conclusion: The Nation State and Multiple Challenges to State Sovereignty 124 5 Global Governance: Towards a Global Polity? 127 Introduction 127 A Short Historical Sociology of the Global Polity 129 The Internationalization of the State and the UN 137 Nation States and Beyond 139 Environmental Protection: A Case Study in the Operation of the Emerging Global Polity 146 Conceptualizing Global Politics 153 Conclusion 156 6 Nationalism and Ethnicity in a Globalizing World 158 Some Initial Conceptual and Historical Guidelines 159 Nationalism and the Nation State 163 Theories of Nationalism and the Nation State 167 The Invention of Tradition 170

Contents Nationalism: Making Sense of a Complex Debate Ethnicity and Nationhood Ethnicity and Multiculturalism Globalization, Nation State and Ethnicity Conclusion vii 174 175 178 182 186 7 Globalization and Culture? 189 Defining Culture 189 Globalization, Cultural Dominance and Cultural Homogenization 190 Cultural Homogenization and Americanization 195 Polarization, not Homogenization 202 Hybridization 210 Is Global Culture becoming Cosmopolitan? 216 Conclusion 217 8 Conclusion 220 Analytical Challenges 221 Is Globalization about to be Superseded by a Resurgence of Nation States? 227 What Should be Done about Globalization? Is it Good or Bad? Are there Grounds for Global Optimism? Drawing a Moral Balance Sheet? 229 234 235 Bibliography Index 237 259

List of Tables and Figures Tables 2.1 Globalization: four broad phases 37 2.2 Images of world order developed by Robertson 54 2.3 Recent phases in the development of globalization 57 3.1 The Bretton Woods system 86 4.1 The creation and disappearance of states (1816-1973) 124 4.2 Challenges to state sovereignty 125 6.1 Simple theories of globalization and nationalism 159 6.2 A typology of relations between state and nation 166 8.1 The interactions of national societies within the global field 223 8.2 The interactions of particular selves within the global field 224 Figures 8.1 Roland Robertson's global field 222 viii

Acknow ledgements Globalization is a topic that still generates intense passions several decades after the term was first used to refer to rapidly multiplying cross-border connections and dependencies. The issues and challenges involved defy easy analysis and policy prescription, partly because globalization is a very complex set of processes, and partly because global activities, problems, and crises seem to emerge and evolve so rapidly. This second edition of a book first published in 1998, tries to make sense of global complexities, taking into account new trends and events like the rise of China, 9/11 and the intensified challenge of global terrorism, and the global financial crisis of 2008-9. While general themes in the study of globalization remain very much the same as in 1998, this volume updates the arguments and range of evidence used in the first edition. It also gives greater emphasis than before to global futures. My thinking in these endeavours has been influenced by many individuals and by a global odyssey that led me from Australia to Ireland in 2001, and then back to Australia in 2009. Working at Trinity College, Dublin, I was fortunate to have been involved in the establishment of the Institute for International Integration Studies, and to have worked with Kevin O'Rourke, Rosemary Byrne, Ronit Lentin, Barbara Bradby, Hilary Tovey, and Adam Drazin. The longer term influence of Roland Robertson on my approach to globalization has also continued and intensified since 1998, while I have also learnt from many other colleagues and collaborators including Sandra Holton, Chris Rumford, John Braithwaite, Constance Lever Tracy, Tony McGrew, Graeme Thompson, Zlatko Skrbis, and Tim Phillips. I am also grateful to Anthony Elliott and Flinders University of South Australia for intellectual and academic support in the writing of this volume. I should also like to thank myoid friend Steve Edwards for his continuing interest in my work, and for being such a mainstay of civil society. Such errors and confusions as remain in this work are nonetheless entirely my own. Much of the impetus for this second edition came from the excellent editors at Palgrave Macmillan, firstly Emily Salz and more latterly Anna Marie Reeve. ix

x Acknowledgements The global family networks of which I am part, remains multi-centred on Australia and the UK, and I am, as ever, profoundly grateful to Sandra, George, and Flora, for their encouragement and forbearance in relation to the vicissitudes involved in my conduct of global research and publishing. The author and publishers wish to thank Sage Publications for granting permission to reproduce Figure 8.1, reproduced by permission of Sage Publications, London, Los Angeles, New Delhi and Singapore from Roland Robertson, Globalization: Social Theory and Global Culture, copyright Roland Robertson, 1992. ROBERT J. HOLTON