On Glocalization: or Globalization for some, Localization for some Others

Abstract

Globalization cuts both ways. Not only does it valorize the local in a cultural sense, it constructs the local as the tribal. Processes of geopolitical fragmentation give those in power even more room to manoeuvre. Glocalization involves the reallocation of poverty and stigma from above without even the residual responsibility of noblesse oblige. Geographical and social mobility are dichotomized; populations are refigured as tourists and vagabonds. Globalization thus reinforces already existing patterns of domination, while globalization indicates trends to dispersal and conflict on neo-traditional grounds. The privileged walk, or fly away; the others take revenge upon each other.

Bauman and Heller: Two Views of Modernity and Culture

“…It is a theory of surplus, and of surplus populations. His is a concern not only for globalization but also for glocalization (Bauman, 1998). It indicates an ongoing concern with the dialectics of master and slave, these refigured now as tourist and vagabond.…”

Defining Algorithmic Ideology: Using Ideology Critique to Scrutinize Corporate Search Engines

“…The state is increasingly described as "weak" (Bauman 1998) or as an "appendix of the market" (Neckel 2008) in contemporary capitalist structures. In fact, politics itself is changing under the dictate of neoliberalism.…”

Globalization, “Glocal” Development, and Teachers’ Work: A Research Agenda

“…Comparative, cross-national, or cross-cultural research about education ought to problematize in fundamental ways that in our glocal village, some nations are more equal than others. Bauman (1998) stated that glocalization is a redistribution of privileges and deprivations ... of resources and impotence, of power and powerlessness, of freedom and constraint . .…”

“…This article begins with an analysis of the interrelationships between global and national development and educational change in the new South Africa. Against this "glocal" (Bauman, 1998) backdrop (i.e., the dialectic of the local and the global; Amove & Torres, 2003), I describe the policy context for teaching in South Africa and other developing nations today. I chose South Africa as a specific case because I find it to be exemplary of similar forces in other underdeveloped countries.…”