ABSTRACT
Globalization is a highly contested concept, with little agreement as to its meaning, its extent, or its consequences. In popular and political discourse, the term usually portrays some sense in which the very nature of world politics is changing. It has been variously conceived in terms of (i) action at a distance, that is where actions in one part of the world can have significant consequences in another distant region; (ii) time-space compression, where time and space become irrelevant as vast amounts of information, ideas, and money are transmitted across the globe at the touch of a button; and (iii) economic and political interdependence, generating new power relations and a new set of “global institutions” which limit the power and autonomy of nation-states (Held and McGrew, 2000: 1-40; Scholte, 2000). Globalization may be best understood as a set of processes leading to intensified human interaction in the economic, political, military, environmental and social spheres. Although it is more than an economic phenomenon, it is the economic and financial aspects of globalization which potentially have the most direct impact on the maintenance of the welfare state and social solidarity.
