Saskia Sassen - A sociology of globalisation (original) (raw)

Abstract

A sociology of globalization has come into existence in recent years as both an umbrella for a number of traditional sub-fields and also as a theoretical enterprise. Social scientists have attempted to theorize worldwide social transformations in recent decades and to conceive of a global system with its own emergent properties. Among the most widely-cited scholars in this emerging field is Saskia Sassen, a Dutch-born sociologist and economist. This article charts and critically assesses Sassen's particular sociology of globalization. The main focus is on two interrelated topics for which she is best known: global cities and transnational migration. Ongoing and novel reconfigurations of time and space are central to many globalization theories as globalization redefines the relationship between production and territoriality, economic organization, institutions and social processes. Sassen is most concerned with the spatial, or scalar, realities of globalization as a process that restructures space and place, as evinced in her global cities thesis and her work on transnational migration, as well as in her more recent research on the state, global digital networks and emergent global formations A sociology of globalization has come into existence in recent years as both an umbrella for a number of traditional sub-fields, among them, development studies, distinct area studies, and international studies, and also as a theoretical enterprise (Appelbaum and . Social scientists have attempted to theorize: a global system with its own emergent properties (e.g., Sklair, 2002;; globalization as a new epoch in the history of world capitalism (Robinson, 2004) or a new age of postmodernity (Albrow, 1997); globality as "planetary consciousness" ; and the rise of a new social form, the network society .

Loading...

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

References (28)

  1. Gane, Nicholas. 2004. The Future of Social Theory. London/New York: Continuum.
  2. Hall, Peter. 1984. The World Cities. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson.
  3. Hamnett, Chris. 1994. "Social Polarization in Global Cities: Theory and Evidence," Urban Studies, 31(3):401-424,
  4. Hoogvelt, Ankie. 1997. Globalization and the Postcolonial World: The New Political Economy of Development. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  5. Keohane, Robert and Joseph Nye (eds.). 1973. Transnational Relations and World Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  6. Khagram, Sanjeev and Peggy Levitt. 2008. The Transnational Studies Reader: Intersections and Innovations. New York: Routledge.
  7. Knox, Paul, L. and Peter J. Taylor (eds.). 1995. World Cities in a World System. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  8. Marcuse, Peter and Ronald van Kempen. 2000. Globalizing Cities: A New Spatial Order? Ox- ford: Blackwell.
  9. Nash, June and Maria Patricia Fernandez-Kelly (eds.). 1983. Women, Men, and the International Division of Labor. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
  10. Oncu, Ayse, and Petra Weyland (eds.). 1997. Space, Culture and Power: New Identities in Global- izing Cities. London: Zed.
  11. NOTE TO EDITORS: [Ayse Oncu is Turkish and the name is spelled with accent marks: a "5" below the "s" in Ayse and two dots above the "O" and the "U" in Oncu]
  12. Pettman, Ralph. 1996. Understanding International Political Economy. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
  13. Robertson, Roland. 1992. Globalization: Social Theory and Global Culture. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
  14. Robinson, William, I. 2007. "Theories of Globalization," in George Ritzer (ed.), Blackwell Com- panion to Globalization. London: Blackwell.
  15. _____. 2004. A Theory of Global Capitalism: Production, Class and State in a Transnational World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  16. _____. 2003. Transnational Conflicts: Central America, Social Change, and Globalization. London: Verso. _____. 2002a. "Remapping Development in Light of Globalization: From a Territorial to a Social Cartography," Third World Quarterly. Vol. 23, No. 6:1047-1071.
  17. _____. 1998. "Beyond Nation-State Paradigms: Globalization, Sociology, and the Challenge of Transnational Studies," Sociological Forum 13 (No. 4):561-594.
  18. Rushing, Wanda. 2004. "Globalization and the Paradoxes of Place: Poverty and Power in Memphis," City and Community, 3(1):65-81.
  19. Sassen, Saskia. 2007. A Sociology of Globalization. New York: W.W. Norton _____ (ed.). 2002. Global Networks, Linked Cities. London/New York: Routledge. _____. 2001 (revised edition). The Global City. Princeton: Princeton University Press. _____. 2000. (2 nd edition). Cities in a World Economy. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge. _____. 1999. Guests and Aliens. New York: The New Press.
  20. _____. 1998. Globalization and its Discontents: Essays on the New Mobility of People and Money. New York: The New Press.
  21. _____. 1996. Losing Control? Sovereignty in the Age of Globalization. New York: Columbia Uni- versity Press.
  22. _____. 1991. The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo. Princeton: Princeton University Press. _____. 1988. The Mobility of Capital and Labor: A Study in International Investment and Labor Flow. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  23. _____. 1984. "The New Labor Demand in Global Cities," in M.P. Smith (ed.), Cities in Trans- formation. Beverly Hills: Sage:139-171.
  24. Scott, Allen (ed.). 2001. Global City-Regions: Trends, Theory, Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press Saskia Sassen and the Sociology of Globalization
  25. Sklair, Leslie. 2002a. Globalization: Capitalism and Its Alternatives. New York: Oxford.
  26. Storper, Michael. 1997. The Regional World: Territorial Development in a Global Economy. New York: The Guilford Press.
  27. Sun, Ruei-Suei. 2001. "Review Essay: Exploring Critical Approaches to Global Cities Stud- ies," Critical Planning, Summer:108-112.
  28. Toffler, Alvin. 1980. The Third Wave. New York: Bantum Books.