Globalisation or ‘glocalisation’? Networks, territories and rescaling

Globalisation or ‘glocalisation’? Networks, territories and rescaling

21 Oct 2010 | Erik Swyngedouw
This paper argues that the concept of globalization should be redefined as "glocalization," which involves two processes: (1) institutional and regulatory arrangements shifting from national to supra-national or global scales and from individual bodies to local, urban, or regional configurations; and (2) economic activities and inter-firm networks becoming more localized and regionalized while also maintaining transnational connections. The author emphasizes the political and economic dynamics of this geographical rescaling and its implications. The scales of economic networks and institutional arrangements are being reshaped, altering social power geometries. The paper discusses the ideological shift towards a neoliberal discourse of market-led internationalism and the hegemony of the globalization thesis, which obscures an ongoing socio-spatial struggle over spatial scale. It highlights the importance of scale in understanding the dynamics of capital circulation and accumulation, and how new territorial scales of governance are emerging. The paper also explores the reconfiguration of scale and the process of glocalization, including the tensions between the rescaling of economic networks and the territorial rescaling of governance scales. It concludes by discussing the Fordist production of scale and its contradictions, and the post-Fordist conundrum of rescaling disorders.This paper argues that the concept of globalization should be redefined as "glocalization," which involves two processes: (1) institutional and regulatory arrangements shifting from national to supra-national or global scales and from individual bodies to local, urban, or regional configurations; and (2) economic activities and inter-firm networks becoming more localized and regionalized while also maintaining transnational connections. The author emphasizes the political and economic dynamics of this geographical rescaling and its implications. The scales of economic networks and institutional arrangements are being reshaped, altering social power geometries. The paper discusses the ideological shift towards a neoliberal discourse of market-led internationalism and the hegemony of the globalization thesis, which obscures an ongoing socio-spatial struggle over spatial scale. It highlights the importance of scale in understanding the dynamics of capital circulation and accumulation, and how new territorial scales of governance are emerging. The paper also explores the reconfiguration of scale and the process of glocalization, including the tensions between the rescaling of economic networks and the territorial rescaling of governance scales. It concludes by discussing the Fordist production of scale and its contradictions, and the post-Fordist conundrum of rescaling disorders.
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