I' Imperial Globalism and its Political Context

1
I. Imperial Globalism and its Political
Context II. Academic Debates over
Globalization III. Summary and Critique Six
Core Claims of Globalism
2

• Steger The Two Stages of Globalism (pp. 18- 19)
• Its neoliberal phase (1990s)
• Susan George a set of ideas utterly foreign to
  the spirit of the times before the 1980s
• Names Friedrich von Hayek, Milton Friedman,
  Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Thomas
  Friedman.
• Its time we set the agenda instead of letting
  the Masters of the Universe set it in Davos,
  Switzerland.

3
David Ignatius, Washington Post editorialist
writing about last years Davos
conference Business today is the leading agent
of social change. That's really the message of
Davos. It can be a pitiless process, and its
seamless efficiency is in frightening contrast to
the incompetence and mismanagement of the public
sector. Globalization can be tamed, but it can't
be stopped -- nor should it be. I just wish other
things in the world worked as well.
4

• Steger The Two Stages of Globalism (p. 19)
• 2) Its imperial phase (post 9-11)
• Whats his argument here? What does he mean by
  imperial globalism?
• A much less unified ideology with a complex
  political base
• Mainly a U.S. phenomenonand a cause of its
  political isolation

Neoliberals
Neoconservatives
Social Conservatives
5

• Academic Debates over Globalization (Steger
  Chapter 2)
• how much of it is globaloney
• its economic dimensionswhat elements are key
• its political dimensionsin the shaping of
  globalization and in its consequences
• its cultural dimensionsdebates over
  homogenization and consumerism
• We will be returning to these issues

6
Selling Globalization Common Claims Claim 1
Globalization is about the liberalization and
global integration of markets Liberalization
Integration of markets Globalization

• How does this claim matter?
• What is Stegers critique?

7
Claim 2 Globalization is Inevitable and
Irreversible

• How does this claim matter?
• What is Stegers critique?

8
Claim 3 Nobody is in charge of globalization

• How does this claim matter?
• What is Stegers critique?

9
Claim 4 Globalization benefits everyone.

• How does this claim matter?
• What is Stegers critique?

10
Claim 5 Globalization spreads democracy in the
world

• How does this claim matter?
• What is Stegers critique?

11
Claim 6 Globalization Requires a War on Terror

• How does this claim matter?
• What is Stegers critique?