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Begin New Search Political Geography United States Publishing Institution Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University

1. Man in his Natural State: The New World and Locke's Second Treatise

Author:
Joel A. Konrad
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
Over the past four decades an effort has been made to relieve John Locke's writing of its central position in the foundation of the “American Republic,” as historians of political philosophy have tended to devalue his role in the pantheon of America's founding philosophers (Huyler 1995; Pocock 1975; Bailyn 1967). Although we have a robust historiography that considers the question of Locke in America, we have surprisingly few scholarly studies on the role of America in Locke's thought, particularly of the conceptual imagery of the Americas and its peoples in Locke's Second Treatise (Bailyn 1967; Pocock 1975). The studies that do consider this connection do not situate his work into a broader historiography concerning the impact of the New World on Europe during the three centuries after its discovery. Instead, scholars have largely approached the question from the perspective of political theory and with the relatively limited goal of explicating his political thought more clearly. In this paper, I am interested in reading Locke as a crucial moment in the larger impact of the New World on Europe during the three centuries after its discovery.
Topic:
Political Theory
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

2. Violence as Historical Time

Author:
Timothy Brook
Publication Date:
08-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
September 11 is a date that has become fixed in the calendar of public memory. For one side in the conflict between the United States and the Islamic network opposed to its power in the Middle East, the shocking display of destruction is remembered as a day of infamy; for the other side, as a day of martyrdom. Which of these claims is true—indeed, whether either is true—depends on the identity and political imagination of the person doing the remembering. But regardless of which meaning the day is now made to bear, the leadership on both sides of the conflict agree on one thing: this was a moment in time that cannot and should not be forgotten. For some, on both sides, 9/11 deserves to be seen as a genuine turning point in history, changing the global political order in a way that allows no going back. For others, again on both sides, it might more usefully be seen as a moment of illumination, when the sudden flash of violence lit a political landscape whose contours theretofore had been difficult to see.1 Whether as a turning point or a moment of illumination, whether as infamy or martyrdom, 9/11 has become a point in time signifying more than the events that took place on that day.
Topic:
Terrorism and History
Political Geography:
United States and Middle East

3. Democratizing Globalization? Impacts and Limitations of Transnational Social Movements

Author:
Jackie Smith
Publication Date:
12-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
This paper examines the organizational foundations for global democracy that have been developed through the efforts of generations of activists who have conceptualized their struggles in transnational or global terms. A broad look at the history of transnational activism shows that the “battle of Seattle” against the World Trade Organization had its origins well before the fall of 1999. It also shows that activists from poor countries have played strong roles in shaping the course of past global activism, and they are likely to play central roles in defining the future course of global struggles for democracy and social justice. Finally, we see that transnational activism has helped cultivate skills, collective identities, and perspectives on global interdependence that affect the possibilities for social movement activism today. At the same time, anti-democratic forces led mainly by the U.S. government have sought to preserve existing relations of domination and exploitation against the latest movement challenges. The current “war on terror” serves to mask a longer-term effort by proponents of economic globalization to restrict public opposition to their agenda. I outline some of the key reactions that the U.S. and other Western governments have taken in response to movement challenges, and I suggest several lessons this analysis uncovers for how activists—primarily those in the U.S. and other Western countries—can work to enhance the struggle for a more democratic global system.
Topic:
Globalization, Government, Human Rights, and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
United States

4. Governing Global Finance: Financial derivatives, liberal states and transformative capacity

Author:
William D. Coleman
Publication Date:
10-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
Global finance is simultaneously one of the most globalized and one of the most esoteric sectors in the world economy. Within global finance, perhaps no activity is more esoteric and more difficult to understand than the buying and selling of derivatives. Their names are familiar perhaps – futures, options, forwards, swaps – but their nature is obscure. Simply put, derivatives are financial instruments that are used to hedge risk. If a Canadian corporation knows that it will want to buy 50 million US dollars on foreign exchange markets in three months time, it can arrange a fixed price for that purchase using a financial contract called a derivative. In doing so, it lowers the risk of the price of the currency changing drastically before it purchases the amounts it needs.
Topic:
Globalization, Government, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States and Canada

5. Private Governance and Democracy in International Finance

Author:
William D. Coleman
Publication Date:
07-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
The governance arrangements in international finance mirror, in part, those found domestically by featuring a partnership between relatively autonomous state agencies and private actors. Where they depart from domestic arrangements is in the relatively stronger position of private actors, particularly global financial conglomerates, in decision-making. Given the importance of the governance arrangements in international finance for the welfare of individuals and firms throughout the world, it is important to ask whether these arrangements conform to accepted criteria for democratic decision-making. Five criteria are identified that might be applied to international sites of governance. These criteria are then applied to three groups of institutions, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), and “private regimes” especially predominant in the derivatives subsector. Based on this analysis, important gaps are found when these governance institutions are held up to democratic principles.
Topic:
Globalization, Government, International Cooperation, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States