3rd WEEK IN LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY - CLASS 09GYB210

After 4 weeks in Department of Geography, Loughborough University, I attended 4 classes under module Globalization, Citizens, and the State for class of 09GYB210 - Globalization by Dr John Harrison. The summary of 4 lectures stated below:

NEW STATES SPACES AND URBAN GOVERNANCE

While some scholars have focused on the creation of new modes of global governance, others have brought attention to transformations of governance within nation-states. This lecture examine the ‘re-scaling’ of political power in cities and city-regions in the Global North.

• How have urban policies changed in response to the imperatives of global capitalism?
• How have urban politics contributed to new forms of territoriality?
• In what ways does the re-scaling of states intersect with neo-liberal ideologies?

THE TRANSFORMATION OF CITIZENSHIP – THE WELFARE STATE

Transformations of governance have been accompanied by changing relationships between states and their citizens. Some argue that state devolution and the dominance of neo-liberal ideologies threatens the ability for marginalized groups to participate fully in society. Indeed, Western states seem more inclined to roll back social services and to curtail social rights, as seen with ‘workfare-ism’

THE TRANSFORMATION OF CITIZENSHIP – THE WORKFARE STATE

To explore the changing relationship between the state and its citizens under globalization

• Why do we now talk about a workfare state?
• What is workfare?
• Where is it?
• What has happened to the welfare state?
• We still have an NHS don’t we?
• What affect does this have on the relationship between the state and its citizens

THE TRANSFORMATION OF CITIZENSHIP – POST-NATIONALISM AND COSMOPOLITANISM

If for some, changing modes of governance signal the erosion of social rights, for others, it offers new possibilities for enhanced political and human rights. Some scholars, for instance, speak of the emergence of ‘post-national citizenship’, a concept that relates in particular to the expansion of the rights and privileges enjoyed by immigrants in the global North. Others have commented on the proliferation of dual citizenship arrangements and the ability for people to participate in politics across national borders. To what extent are notions of ‘human rights’ integrated into national systems? To what extent have notions of citizenship been de-linked from membership in a ‘nation’? To what extent are individuals able to access rights and to effect political change outside the framework of national citizenship? Can we fathom the emergence of ‘cosmopolitan citizenship’?

CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Following on from the previous lecture on post-national citizenship, we explore the ways in which ordinary people mobilize themselves politically in a globalized context. The period of state restructuring in the global North has witnessed a decline of labour unions and class-based social movements. But is has also seen the rise of new forms of social action and political consciousness. We begin with a discussion of the ‘new social movements’, a label given to the environmentalist, feminist and peace movements that gained momentum in the 1980s. We will then turn to other social movements that have emerged in recent decades, including the anti-capitalist and anti-globalization movements. We will examine how these various movements have mobilized both particular cultural identities and universal conceptions of human rights, and how that have harnessed information technologies to operate locally and globally. Finally, we will evaluate whether these movements represent a fracturing of broad-based political communities or an opportunity to build global alliances and networks to deal with global problems.