Globalization: Politics, Culture & Global Governance

The word Globalization is one of the more fashionable additions to the lexicon of international relations pundits have made since the end of the Cold War. Widely used, frequently abused and generally misunderstood, the term today has become so clouded in cliché and indeterminacy that it risks meaning almost nothing at all. To remedy this situation, you set out in this course to investigate, analyze and reassess the elusive historical and social concept of globalization, looking closely at its manifold forms, varied content and troubling consequences. Employing the tools of sociology and the analytical methods of political science, you embark on an interdisciplinary investigation of the theory and practice of globalization while simultaneously developing the requisite skills for identifying this phenomenon in current events and situating it in the larger context of international relations.

Your investigation begins with a definitional and historical analysis of the term globalization, one that clearly explains and differentiates among the many interrelated key constituent concepts. At this juncture, you will also survey the more important theories formulated to account for this intangible phenomenon we call globalization.

With this foundation in place, you then organize the coursework into two main areas of reflection. The first concerns the major actors on the stage of globalization, of both state and non-state varieties. In the second part of the course you take up the international agenda the phenomenon of globalization so relentlessly imposes and that so dangerously entangles state and non-state actors alike. Among the high stake items are:

- Global Flows of Value (people, information, culture, and ideas)
- Systems of Global Trade (among & between Developed & Less-Developed economies)
- Global Public Goods (resources, sustainability, global warming, bio-diversity, etc.)
- Transcendent Ideological Forces (religious fanaticism, criminal violence, terrorism)
- Humanitarian Public Law (genocide, war crimes, crimes vs. humanity, the ICC)
- Global Security (Cold War security, human security & multilateralism)

In short, this course provides you with a detailed analysis of the meaning, players, processes, and consequences of contemporary globalization, serving as a complement to your area of concentration or as a foundation to further work in international relations, political science, sociology and related fields.