Abstract

Globalization is widely perceived as the master concept of our time. Yet participants in the globalization debate are much clearer about the implications of globalization than about its meaning. Often, the definitions of globalization offered in the literature presuppose the very consequences of that phenomenon that demand investigation. A more fruitful conceptualization allows for the possibility that globalization may actually co-exist - as opposed to undermine or compete - with national socio-spatial networks of interaction. This in turn allows for a more nuanced appraisal of the implications of globalization for the future of the nation state.