World Congress of Sociology session

AFTER GLOBALIZATION: Continuities and transformational change in the
world-system

Volker Bornschier                       Christopher Chase-Dunn
University of Zurich                    University of California,
Riverside


Proposal for a scheduled session at the XVI World Congress of Sociology,
July
2002 in Brisbane (Australia).


For a decade the term “globalization” has played a seminal role in
social science discourse.  Its meanings have been explicated and
contested in a vast literature. And some excellent empirical studies
have been done to explore and test theoretical claims. Did basic social
mechanisms actually change, as many authors claimed? Do we need to
revise our fundamental sociological concepts? Is addition of some
discussions of globalization in textbooks sufficient, or do we need to
do more radical rethinking?

Some authors claim that a new era of world history has emerged since the
1970s. Others see recent developments as the continuation of cycles and
trends that have been operating for centuries. These basic differences
have received some attention, but we want to invite sociologists to
further clarify the issues of continuities and transformational changes
and to present empirical evidence for evaluating these theoretical
claims. Our title, After Globalization, raises the issue of the future.
Will it be a continuation of recent trends, a leveling off of global
integration, or a reversal?  Will the marketization, privatization and
deregulation of the economy increase, or will there be a reaction
against these developments. And if there is a reaction, what forms will
it take? Will there be a return to economic nationalism or will new
forms of global governance emerge that can ameliorate the huge
inequalities that have been expanded by corporate globalization? We
invite proposals that specify contending theoretical arguments about
globalization and that marshal evidence that relevant for evaluating
these, and for addressing the issues of the future of globalization.

We invite proposals for empirically oriented papers that address changes
with regard to:

· State/world-market relations (including regional integration);
· Trends in the reorganization of firms and production;
· Transnational civil society, social movements and politics (including
the emergent anti-globalization movements);
· Recent technological developments and their social impacts;
· Transnational migration;
· Emergent global governance and world citizenship

Please submit proposals no later than February 15, 2001 to both
organizers: Volker Bornschier (vobo@soziologie.unizh.ch) Christopher
Chase-Dunn (chriscd@mail.ucr.edu)


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