ABSTRACT
My first memory of the term dates back to 1982 when I was a Master’s student at the University
of Sussex. In a course on international political economy the tutor, John Maclean, suggested-
even insisted-that we talk in terms of ‘global’ rather than ‘international’ relations (Maclean,
1999). The notion of ‘the global’ really grabbed me, and I dropped everything else in that
course in order to write a lengthy essay on general ontological and epistemological issues
related to the global. The course yielded my lowest-ever grade-along with perhaps my great-
est-ever learning.
