Global Turn

Persistent rumour has it that globalisation is doing serious damage to the nation-state at the present historical juncture. Dramatic versions of the narrative even insist that the challenge of globalisation to the nation-state is so serious that this pivotal "unit" of the international "system" is in danger of disappearing. In this book, Ulf Hedetoft focuses attention on this global-national nexus in some of its many differing manifestations, offering both theoretical, historical and analytical thoughts and perspectives on a problem which increasingly dominates academic and public debates. He argues that it makes sense to talk about a "global turn" in international studies, a change which might be as profound and consequential as the well-known "linguistic turn" in the study of society and politics. This does not mean that globalisation, spearheaded by the USA, is ousting the nation-state from the global scene. In fact, the global order needs nation-states, although their position will be radically different and their sovereignty -- except for a few cases -- without much substance. Populist and romantic nationalism notwithstanding, there is no going back to an earlier and more virginal state of national political or cultural history. In this sense globalisation is not irreversible. Whether we like it or not, the global turn is here for good.