The Spaces and Times of Globalization: Place, Scale, Networks, and Positionality

* Stimulating discussions in a globalization seminar at Minnesota, at the Atwood Lecture at Clark University, at the Semple Lecture at the University of Kentucky, and at the Leir conference on Global Economic Change at Clark University influenced this article. I am particularly grateful to Neil Brenner, Vinay Gidwani, Jim Glassman, Susan Hanson, Helga Leitner, Bongman Seo, Daisaku Yamamoto, Jun Zhang, and three referees for their criticisms at various stages. The usual disclaimers apply.

Abstract

Discussions of the spatiality of globalization have largely focused on place-based attributes that fix globalization locally, on globalization as the construction of scale, and on networks as a distinctive feature of contemporary globalization. By contrast, position within the global economy is frequently regarded as anachronistic in a shrinking, networked world. A critical review of how place, scale, and networks are used as metaphors for the spatiality of globalization suggests that space/time still matters. Positionality (position in relational space/time within the global economy) is conceptualized as both shaping and shaped by the trajectories of globalization and as influencing the conditions of possibility of places in a globalizing world. The wormhole is invoked as a way of describing the concrete geographies of positionality and their non-Euclidean relationship to the Earth’s surface. The inclusion of positionality challenges the simplicity of pro- and antiglobalization narratives and can change how we think about globalization and devise strategies to alter its trajectory.

Keywords:

• globalization
• place
• scale
• networks
• positionality
• space-time

Notes

* Stimulating discussions in a globalization seminar at Minnesota, at the Atwood Lecture at Clark University, at the Semple Lecture at the University of Kentucky, and at the Leir conference on Global Economic Change at Clark University influenced this article. I am particularly grateful to Neil Brenner, Vinay Gidwani, Jim Glassman, Susan Hanson, Helga Leitner, Bongman Seo, Daisaku Yamamoto, Jun Zhang, and three referees for their criticisms at various stages. The usual disclaimers apply.