Globalization: A Dossier of Links

"On a daily basis, the financial section of a major newspaper constitutes one of the most dynamic aspects of the globalization process: the movements of capital markets and capital flow. In a format identical to the stock quotes in the business pages, wordsearch emphasizes an entirely different, less obvious aspect of the same process of globalization: the subjective aspect." In her interview with the curator Hans Ulrich Obrist (which we will be publishing in extract in the next edition of db-art.info), Karin Sander emphasizes the political aspect of her project. Whereas her translinguistic interview sketches a many-layered picture of the American metropolis in the business section of the New York Times, wordsearch touches upon the complex connections between language, cultural identity, and global economic structures. The effects of globalization are palpable in every area of life, and even the critical voices of various opponents of globalization are being discussed in political and business circles. For this reason, we’ve put together a small dossier with information and links to a variety of positions in this controversial debate. In addition, we're introducing an array of internet addresses that are involved with the transformation of language and culture in the "global village."

The mobility of goods, services, work, technology, and capital around the world is on the constant rise: "Globalization" – we hear this word every day in the news, we read it in the newspaper, we talk about it, yet it seems to have a different meaning each time. "Globalization, it seems, is a double-edged sword," Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, chairman of the German parliament's Enquete-Kommission (investigative committee) "Globalization of the World Economy," has stressed. "On the one hand, as a result of globalization, the distance between the poor and the rich has increased in size, and the exploitation of nature is spreading continuously. On the other, an economic interconnectedness undoubtedly helps to maintain peace. It furthers economic growth and accelerates innovation. For an export-orientated country such as Germany, it guarantees millions of jobs."

What new forms of political discourse arise out of the social changes gathered together under the catchword "globalization?" A good introduction to the subject can be found on Syracuse University's visually descriptive page. Here, the user can discover various regional aspects of globalization on a world map. www.wastun.org is an international cooperation between the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, the German/French cultural broadcasting station arte, and ZDF. Current discussions on globalization and on new forms of political activism in the net as well as in other media formats are documented on this highly interesting, recently initiated information platform.

Another useful portal is the globalization page of Emory University in Atlanta. Here, information on debates, theories, organizations, and books can be found. In addition, links are offered that provide connections to German, French, and Spanish pages.

Also worth reading is a compilation of essays the British financial magazine The Economist has published on the subject. In a special theme edition, the German-language financial magazine brandeins also concerns itself with globalization and offers, along with a number of well-founded contributions, an extensive array of recommendations for further reading, to which we'd like to add a selection of important sources: among the most heavily discussed theoreticians of a new global economic order is the former head economist of the World Bank, Joseph Stiglitz ("Globalization and Its Discontents"). His criticism of the IMF and his demand for the so-called Tobin Tax, which calls for a levy on international currency transactions, is also embraced by attac, a movement critical of globalization. Following Naomi Klein's bestseller "No Logo" (2001), this year's manifesto for the opponents of globalization is widely regarded to be the volume "Empire" by Michael Hardt, a young American professor of literature, and Antonio Negri, an Italian specialist in public law. Similarly, the Chicago sociologist Saskia Sassen ("Globalization and Its Discontents: Essays on the New Mobility of People and Money") also strives towards a "space for multitudes" and a "new political architecture."

"A brilliantly written guide through the new world of globalization" is what the Kirkus Review has called "The Lexus and the Olive Tree," a book written by the renowned New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedmann. The internet pages of the International Institute for Economics, one of the leading American think tanks on global economy, offer a large selection of essays and books and argue for market liberalization, as does the Cato Institute in Washington. In his "George Soros on Globalization," the prominent economist George Soros takes the arguments of globalization's opponents seriously, even when he doesn't share the conclusions they draw. The English sociologist and expert on globalization, Anthony Giddens, expresses criticism both of the conservative camp and the traditional left in his book "The Third Way and Its Critics." As a champion of the so-called "third way," the advisor to Labour leader Tony Blair calls for more ecology and less state. The Süddeutsche Zeitung criticizes "The Silent Takeover. Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy," the bestseller written by the Cambridge lecturer Noreena Hertz, as "entirely polarized. One of the most important American dissidents, the well-known linguist Noam Chomsky, has published numerous works in which he particularly addresses the role American foreign and economic policy plays in the global balance of power. The most recent book of his to be published in Germany was "The Attak," (read Chomsky's Interview here) in which he comments on the attacks of September 11.

Yet language, too, has its own globalization pages. "What's happening to our languages" is the question posed by the online magazine TOPICS in a special issue on globalization. The Russian internet portal "Endangered Languages: links and resources" documents the change in global lingual culture and the rapid extinction of individual languages and dialects as seen on the newspaper pages of Karin Sander's wordsearch project. Other sources worth reading concerning the extinction of languages can be found in Unesco's Internet magazine or in the forum of globalpolicy.com. A list of all languages (still) spoken today can be found in the Language Atlas or in the Index at ethnologue.com, a page that has proved immensely helpful during the research work for wordsearch.

KvG