Parallel Worlds? Comparing Modernity and Globalization in Six Non-Western Cities

Abstract

Globalization is a big word with a fittingly big reach, and fittingly big literature to go with it: the Harvard University catalog records more than 1800 titles with the word ‘globalization’ from 1987 onwards - an average of 100 a year. Can there be anything more to say? This study is a critique of globalization, especially as it is applied to the non-Western world, but I explore its ‘silences’ rather than its sins. I look at networks, relationships and transformations that get discussed little if at all in the conversation or the literature of globalization.