The Second Great Transformation: The Politics of Globalisation in the Global North

Abstract

Dominant strands of thinking in contemporary social science consider economic globalisation, the increasing role of cross-border flows and transactions in economic organisation, in terms of some combination of either limited or considerable economic impact and either positive or negative consequences for the general welfare. Little attention has been given thus far to its political consequences within those parts of the world, the developed countries of the Global North, where its impact should be greatest. This paper argues that economic globalisation is in fact the geographical face of a new great transformation in the forces of production (reductions in transport and communication costs, dramatically increased capital and labour mobility, delocalisation of technological innovation, etc.) on a par in its potential impact with the transition to market society with fragmented states first identified by Karl Polanyi. Globalisation, it is claimed here, is the product of action by states as much as markets and, in the short-term, seems to accentuate social inequalities within states, to weaken the rights of current citizens, to lessen the weight of the democratic vote and to stimulate a profound restructuring of both work and the welfare state in the developed world or ‘Global North'. But more significantly, in the long term, when focus on globalisation shifts from its recent economic causes and short-term political impact to its more long term political consequences, recent trends towards a more global economy can be seen in a different light: as entailing a potential positive transformation in the geographical organisation of political rights and citizenship on a par with the first great transformation in economic life and citizenship signalled by the coming of market society.