ABSTRACT
Structural globalization has been both a cycle and an upward trend as periods of greater global integration have been followed by periods of deglobalization on a stair-step toward the greater connectedness of humanity. In the current period the world-system may be entering entered another phase of structural deglobalization as the contradictions of capitalist neoliberalism have provoked different kinds of anti-globalization populism and trade wars. This plateauing and downturn in economic connectedness is occurring in the context of U.S. hegemonic decline and the emergence of a more multipolar power configuration among states. And the combination of greater communications connectivity and greater awareness of North/South inequalities, as well as destabilizing conflicts and climate change in the Global South, have provoked waves of refugee migrations and reactions against immigrants. The result is a period of chaos that is similar in some ways with what occurred in the first half of the twentieth century, but also different. This chapter considers ways in which progressive forces might come together in the twenty-first century to bring about a more egalitarian, democratic and sustainable global commonwealth.
