Globalization and Conflict

Globalization
Lateral extension of social connections across time and space
Local transformation

Historical Context
(Age of discovery, industrial revolution and information age)

The spread of global relations reflect modern structures (an empirical, scientific knowledge base, capitalism, industrialism)

Increased cross-border relations (international exchange and interdependence), open, borderless world economy (removal of government-imposed restrictions)

The birth of global village
The ascent of cities (a mobile urban world)

Production/Capitalism
Commodification, consumerism

Multinational corporations

Concentration of economic decision making power
Increased gaps of material welfare between and within states

Economic disparities and discontent
A weak social cohesion
Ecological degradation

Structure of Knowledge
Secular, empirical knowledge base - instrumental, techno-scientific

Post-modern, eco-centrism (as opposed to anthropocentric), religious revivalism

Processes and effects (McWorld vs. Jihad)
Global cultural flows and inherited local identities

Homogenization (Coca-Colanization, McDonalization)
Heterogeneity (retribalization)

Social, cultural homogeneity
Cultural re-colonization (imperialism)

The impact of the media on global political, economic and military arenas

Westernization (modernization) destroys existing cultures and local self-determination.

Political de-territorialization (nation states lose control)
Subnational and transnational trends (some states were weakened mostly in peripheral states)

Re-territorialization such as localization, regionalization and retribalization

Non-territorial Communities (hybrid identities, overlapping communities)
Ethno-nations
Pan-Arab, Pan-African regionalism
(Collective solidarity)

Identity, social/cultural space
Identity; a sense of self, reliable social bonds
Meanings and symbols are important.

Modernism
Post-modernism (multiple identities)
Identities are plural and uncertain.

Cultural politics of differences; disintegration of communities
Plural sites of social contestation

Collective identity is produced by the social construction of boundaries.

Globalization blurs social space/geographic space.

Hybrid identity, no single marker is more important than others.

Disjunction between national political space and local social processes

Identity groups re-define themselves in regards to global trends.

Ethno-national identies, eco-centric, gender (some identities based on de-territorialization)

Structure/agency relationships

How can values and institutions change?

Governance
Power, authority, distributive justice

Order and stability is based on Western values and interests (neoliberal economic order)

Institution building (for functional cooperation)

Hegemony and consent
A process of negotiation (between weak states and dominant powers)

Conflict management
International organizations and regimes (defined as a set of rules, principles, decision making procedures)

Local communities (economic declines, crimes)

Voice of the margins (indigenous populations, women and children in impoverished countries)

Re-assertion of local values, rejection, hostility

Global civil society (demand for autonomy and human development)
Grassroots representation, universalistic values (the environment, human rights, sustainable development - poverty reduction)

Political leadership captive to financial, commercial and strategic interests

Ethics of universalism

Theories of Conflict
Collaborative/adversarial processes

Satisfaction of basic needs (the means for satisfaction of human needs eroded; law and order needed to control frustration)

Relative deprivation

Does technology serve as a means for domination or liberation?
Technology's role in reshaping old and new structural forces, e.g., trade unions