Roland
Robertson's "Glocalization: Time-Space and Homogeneity-Heterogeneity"
is a theoretical article which looks at the concept of globalization through
the way it is deliberated in the sociological field. Robertson's agenda in "Glocalization:
Time-Space and Homogeneity-Heterogeneity" is to show the weakness of contemporary
theories of globalization. Robertson's "cure" for this discursive
problem is not through a better definition or more elaborate theory of
globalization, but rather its replacement with the concept of
"glocalization".
Robertson
opens "Glocalization: Time-Space and Homogeneity-Heterogeneity" with
the semantic definition of globalization which sees it as a process and not a
fixed and resolved state which has clear characteristics. Viewing globalization
as a process means in a sense viewing the
world as becoming global as Robertson shows how sociologists tend position
local culture in an inferior position to the rising global culture under
globalization.
Robertson
hold that the vagueness which characteristics sociological discourse on
globalization arises in part from the concept of globalization itself, and
offers to replace the view of it as a process for a view of it as a condition
or a trait of culture which is characterized by globalness.
Although
Robertson was one of the first to introduce the concept of globalization into
the sociological discourse in "Glocalization: Time-Space and Homogeneity-Heterogeneity"
he suggests replacing it with the concept of "glocalization" – a term
borrowed from the Japanese business world which refers to the process of
adopting and fitting foreign products to meet the needs and taste of the local
market. Paradoxically, Robertson in a sense argues that globalization is in
actual fact a local phenomenon, and that the worldwide exchange and fusion of
culture is always done in local terms. On the other hand, Robertson holds that
what is conceived as the local is in actual fact global, like for example of
the idea of the nation state which is a global idea. For these reasons,
Robertson holds that global culture and local culture are not two opposing
forces at odds, as the term "globalization" might suggest, but rather
see them as working together, as the term "glocalization" might
suggest.
See also: Jihad vs. McWorld / Benjamin Barber
See also: Jihad vs. McWorld / Benjamin Barber
Arjun Appadurai – Disjunction and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy
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