Globalization and identity

This volume has evolved from a series of discussions held Tat at the University of Bradford about the effects of both the humanities and social sciences, from disciplines including political science, economics and development studies, languages, area studies, sociology and social policy.

The contributors adopt a variety of different perspectives, but they all subscribe to the view that globalization cannot be reduced to its economic dimensions alone, and that its effects are uneven, complex, and often ambivalent. There is a common acceptance of the need to respect the specifics of the historical process, which is reflected in the number of case studies included in the volume. There is also a general awareness that the politics of recognition, which lends the term 'identity' to our title, should always be considered in conjunction with a politics of material distribution.

In chapter 1, on Globalization and its Inequities, Marjorie Ruth Lister describes the variety of definitions advanced for our focal concept. Yet 'globalization' is understood best in her view as a term which performs a number of functions in the contemporary humanities and social sciences. In particular, the concept of globalization can be used:

to describe the condition of the world;

to name the post-Cold War era; to provide a new paradigm for study;

to make a personal statement about change;

to serve as a tool of political debate.

Other contributors have followed Lister's sceptical lead concerning the generalized claims made for the consequences of globalization, whether these are evaluated positively or negatively. This attitude is combined with sensitivity towards the polemical contexts in which the discourse of globalization occurs.