> >Ian Murray wrote:
>>
>>>Globalization is a theory?
>>
>>No, it's a propaganda word. Or an empty signifier.
>>
>>Doug
>
>What's a leftist to do when the word arises? Point out
>it's a propaganda word, or at most an empty signifier?
>I believe the word is gaining wider usage.
It is; I've even got the nexis stats to prove it (though usage in the first half of 2001 was off a bit from 2000H1, after a sharp five-year rise). I think one should name the things that "globalization" effaces - the intensification of market disciplines, the shredding of the welfare state, the growth of imperial power - and, holding contradictory thoughts firmly in mind, also point, a la Empire, to the good things hidden within it, like cosmpolitanism, fascinating cultural cross-pollination, etc.
Doug