Beyond Globalization: Reflections on Glocalism

The old adage states that humankind moves “one step forward” before it moves “two steps backward”, suggesting that there is no such thing as a linear evolution. This is particularly true when applied to our present time, the “age of globalization”. In the case of globalism, “two steps back” are nee...

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Main Author: Fred Dallmayr
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Milano University Press 2017-03-01
Series:Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation
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Online Access:https://ojs-unimi-test.4science.cloud/index.php/glocalism/article/view/21202
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author Fred Dallmayr
author_facet Fred Dallmayr
author_sort Fred Dallmayr
collection DOAJ
description The old adage states that humankind moves “one step forward” before it moves “two steps backward”, suggesting that there is no such thing as a linear evolution. This is particularly true when applied to our present time, the “age of globalization”. In the case of globalism, “two steps back” are needed in order to assess more soberly the present historical trajectory, and capture the “internal dialectic” of globalism. In fact, what we are witnessing today in many parts of the world is a backlash to globalism, manifest in an upsurge of traditional nationalism, if not chauvinism and ethnocentrism. The core issue is a difficult relation between nearness and distance, between the concretely singular and the general/universal which the term “globalism” seeks to capture but, of course, cannot explain. My reflections in the following seek to explore and shed some light on this relation. In a first step, I venture into philosophical (and theological) terrain in an effort to discern the meaning of human situatedness in a place, a space, or a “world”. Next, I discuss the inevitable tensions or conflicts between nearness and distance, that is, the inner “dialectic” between the local and the global. Finally, I translate the local/global syndrome into the correlation of “earth and world”, “roots and routes”, familiar loyalties and unfamiliar peregrinations.
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spelling doaj-art-fe0f26cf5fb94ecabf5e389ac552a4752025-08-20T03:20:05ZengMilano University PressGlocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation2283-79492017-03-011Beyond Globalization: Reflections on GlocalismFred Dallmayr0University of Notre Dame The old adage states that humankind moves “one step forward” before it moves “two steps backward”, suggesting that there is no such thing as a linear evolution. This is particularly true when applied to our present time, the “age of globalization”. In the case of globalism, “two steps back” are needed in order to assess more soberly the present historical trajectory, and capture the “internal dialectic” of globalism. In fact, what we are witnessing today in many parts of the world is a backlash to globalism, manifest in an upsurge of traditional nationalism, if not chauvinism and ethnocentrism. The core issue is a difficult relation between nearness and distance, between the concretely singular and the general/universal which the term “globalism” seeks to capture but, of course, cannot explain. My reflections in the following seek to explore and shed some light on this relation. In a first step, I venture into philosophical (and theological) terrain in an effort to discern the meaning of human situatedness in a place, a space, or a “world”. Next, I discuss the inevitable tensions or conflicts between nearness and distance, that is, the inner “dialectic” between the local and the global. Finally, I translate the local/global syndrome into the correlation of “earth and world”, “roots and routes”, familiar loyalties and unfamiliar peregrinations. https://ojs-unimi-test.4science.cloud/index.php/glocalism/article/view/21202globalizationglocalismnationalismethnocentrismhumankind
spellingShingle Fred Dallmayr
Beyond Globalization: Reflections on Glocalism
Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation
globalization
glocalism
nationalism
ethnocentrism
humankind
title Beyond Globalization: Reflections on Glocalism
title_full Beyond Globalization: Reflections on Glocalism
title_fullStr Beyond Globalization: Reflections on Glocalism
title_full_unstemmed Beyond Globalization: Reflections on Glocalism
title_short Beyond Globalization: Reflections on Glocalism
title_sort beyond globalization reflections on glocalism
topic globalization
glocalism
nationalism
ethnocentrism
humankind
url https://ojs-unimi-test.4science.cloud/index.php/glocalism/article/view/21202
work_keys_str_mv AT freddallmayr beyondglobalizationreflectionsonglocalism