ABSTRACT
This book has questioned the degree to which globalisation can claim to be the new ‘grand narrative’ of the social sciences. Globalisation suggests the universal application of a certain dynamism that is rooted in the sociotechnical and cultural reorganisation of capitalism as a universal global system. As Michael Mann puts it, ‘The term “globalization” refers to the extension of social relations over the globe’ (2001: 51). The whole world becomes embroiled in a single set of social relations. When applied to the former communist countries this suggests the universal applicability of some sort of integral ‘transition’ process where the shift to the market is accompanied by a common set of economic and social norms. It also has political effects, and the assumption is that the creation of a liberal democratic order is ‘the best possible shell’ for capitalism, as Lenin put it.
