Globalisation of Politics

ountless books have appeared in the last two decades on the theme of globalisation and its many forms. From the emancipatory scenario to the doomsday picture – nothing has been left out of imagination. Initially writers wrote of fast flowing capital, newer forms of assemblages, refined versions of neoFordism, etc. Sociologists were not behind in these imaginations. Themes of global identity, placelessness, rootlessness, migration and formation of new diasporas, marked these writings. Then came the phase of writings on “subaltern globalisation” with focus on issues of trafficking of labour, human organs, women and children, and money laundering. Fancy accounting, internet sales, sovereign funds, currency trade – at some point when these discussions started, it appeared that we no longer needed the real world of production. The global was the virtual, and the virtual was global. When finally the crash happened two years ago, observers were hurled back to common sense; and the shock was felt among the chattering classes: how could they be so gullible? One can find traces of these phases of studies in globalisation in Samir Dasgupta and Jan Nederveen Pieterse edited volume on Politics of Globalisation. The politics of particular viewpoints is also evident in this book. We have in this volume among the authors Andre Gunder Frank, Immanuel Wallerstein, Amitai Etzioni. Wallerstein foresees a period of global anarchy; Andre Gunder Frank looks back on the behaviour of the US rulers and the response of China in the early years of this decade, while some other contributors discuss the politics of capitalist globalisation. Samir Dasgupta discusses in his introduction to the volume different aspects what he terms as “globalisation politics”, such as dual citizenship, corporate social responsibility, the decline of the power and role of trade unions. These
Economic & Political Weekly EPW

book review
Politics of Globalisation edited by Samir Dasgupta and Jan Nederveen