ABSTRACT
The preceding chapters of this volume have collectively made the strong point that in order to understand the complex processes that are popularly, if somewhat glibly, referred to as ‘globalization’ or ‘global change’, we must not allow ourselves to be uncritically seduced by ungrounded notions of ‘virtual’ or ‘cyber’ economics. Instead we must pay close attention to the dynamics of exchange as they actually take place on the ground, in what Karl Polanyi referred to as ‘real’ economies. To be sure, some influential commentators, such as Kenichi Ohmae (1995) and Jean Marie Guéhenno (1995), have argued persuasively that the politico-economic functions of the nation-state are being greatly diminished by new information technologies. But this, so boldly put, is to overstate.
