Global Matrix

Globalization has brought with it many difficult and contradictory phenomena: violence, deep national insecurities, religious divisions and individual insecurities. This book takes a critical look at three key areas - globalism, nationalism, and state-terror - to confront common mythologies and identify the root causes of the problems we face. Too many commentators still argue that globalization is predominantly a neo-liberal economic phenomenon; that nation-states are on the way out, and that terror is something that primarily comes from below. Global Matrix exposes the limitations of this argument. The authors explore four main questions: -- What is the cultural-political nature of contemporary globalization? -- How adequate, particularly in the context of nation-states, is a politics of democratic nationalism? -- How are we to understand new and old nations in the context of changes across the late twentieth century and into the present? -- Where does national violence come from and what does it mean for a 'war on terror'? Written by two leading scholars, this is a lucid study of what place the nation-state has in a globalizing world that will appeal to students across the political and social sciences.Preface 1. Introduction: Mapping Nationalism and Globalism Part I. Rethinking Globalism and Globalization 2. Global Enchantment: A Matrix of Ideologies 3. Global Trajectories: America and the Unchosen 4. Global Tensions: A Clash of Social Formations Part II. Debating Civic and Post-Nationalism 5. Fetishized Nationalism? (Joan Cocks) 6. Ambiguous Nationalism: A Reply to Joan Cocks 7. Dark Nationalism or Transparent Postnationalism? Part III. Reflecting on Old and New Nations 8. Ukania: The Rise of the 'Annual Report' Society 9. Australia: Anti-Politics for a Passive Federation 10. Late Britain: Disorientations from Down Under 11. North America: The Misfortunes and 'Death' of Ethnicity 12. Central Asia: Continuities and Discontinuities Part IV. Confronting Terror and Violence 13. Democracy and the Shadow of Genocide 14. Nationalism and the Crucible of Modern Totalitarianism 15. Control and the Projection of a Totalizing War-Machine 16. Terrorism and the Opening of Black Pluto's Door 17. Meta-War and the Insecurity of the United States 18. Post-2001 and the Third Coming of Nationalism References Index