Research in Globalization (Dec 2023)
Globalization futures
Abstract
Claims that ‘globalization is dead’ are premature, though some commentators refer to post-globalization and recognise various developments as signalling a move away from some of the globalized ‘certainties’ of recent decades. Established trends in world trade, international relationships and the broad ‘world order’ are facing significant challenges that are creating both threats and opportunities for global forces. Using material from Research in Globalization and elsewhere, this paper draws upon recent literature on the trajectory followed by globalization to consider the future. In particular, it draws upon analyses of recent events that are shaping that future, specifically the various responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russia–Ukraine conflict. The pandemic revealed a certain fragility to globalization not only in terms of the lack of ability of production processes to deliver medical supplies in timely fashion but also the focus on national responses rather than co-ordinated global actions. In addition, the invasion of one sovereign European nation by another has raised questions about the existing global world order, raising prospects for increased regional political groupings and challenges to the so-called rules-based order that has supported globalization. In examining these and other challenges to globalization, the paper concludes with observations regarding how new research and writing on globalization can be captured by papers in Research in Globalization, with opportunities for those working in numerous disciplines to contribute to debates on the demise, reshaping or wholesale transformation of globalization. Possibilities for future foci are suggested.
