Introduction

Abstract

Abstract The book begins by introducing three microhistorical waves of globalization over the past three decades and illuminating their systems of inclusion (liberal democracy, transnational capitalism, network technology) that generate symptoms of exclusion (refugee crises, economic polarization, anti-immigration). These two aspects resonate with the postpolitical double ethics of multicultural tolerance and terroristic justice, underlying the catastrophic antagonism between a global community and its remainder. The introduction addresses the latter as ‘the abject’ from biopolitical and ethical angles and explores ‘abject agency’ in various directions through ‘global cinema.’ Accordingly, world cinema studies may be remapped to update its national/transnational frames to a global frame. Contemporary local films appear here as reflecting global phenomena in terms of biopolitical abjection and ethical ‘atopia.’ This introduction sketches a world map of significant directors to explore in this frame, including both global Hollywood and global auteurs.