Faculty: Dr Elizbeth Ingleson, Department of International History
This project seeks to understand how scholars have used globalization as a conceptual framework to make sense of the past. The term “globalization” did not come into use until the 1990s. Since then, scholars have increasingly explored and debated the processes of global integration, some tracing periods of globalization as far back as the 15th century. Together with Dr Ingleson, the Research Assistant (RA) will explore the scholarship that has used globalization as a frame of analysis.
The first aim of this project is to identify the various points of debate amongst scholars who write of globalization. Which time periods do they focus on? What did the concept look like from the perspective of the Global South? Are there other terms that scholars use either synonymously or as a precursor to globalization (interdependence, for example)?
The second core idea driving this project is the ways this scholarship has influenced, and been influenced by, wider public intellectual and policy debates. In 2019 the World Economic Forum declared an era of “globalization 4.0”. “The new frontier of globalization is the cyber world,” the Forum declared. It pointed to cross-border digital integration enabled by recent developments in e-commerce, digital services, and 3D printing. In the Forum’s telling, this fourth iteration of globalization built upon earlier periods of global integration, starting in the 15th century. More recently, policymakers debate the extent to which we are living in an era of rising de-globalization.
By considering the ways that scholars have used the concept of globalization to make sense of the past, this project is concerned with the possibilities, and limitations, of using large-scale frameworks in historical analysis. What do we gain, and what do we lose, by using a term that actors at the time did not use? And what are the political implications of doing so for the present?
The RA’s tasks for this project will include library research and the creation of a literature review. The project will contribute to the RA’s professional development by strengthening their research skills, analytical skills, and time management skills. They will also gain an historical understanding of key aspects of globalization and its political uses today.
The research will be an important component to a chapter Dr Ingleson is contributing to an edited volume. The RA will not only be acknowledged for their assistance but also have a direct insight into the processes involved in academic research and writing.