ABSTRACT
Globalization is the principal subject of the emerging field of global studies. At the same time, the global also serves as the conceptual framework through which global studies scholars investigate the contemporary and historical dynamics of thickening interdependence. As we noted in the Introduction, most academic inquiries into globalization focus on its objective dynamics involving global financial transactions, the impact of new digital technologies, enhanced global mobility in terms of the movements of goods and people, and global cultural flows. Indeed, attempts to develop objective, quantifiable assessments of the causes, contents, and consequences of globalization have become a key issue for contemporary social science research and social policy. Since 2000, researchers have sought to develop empirical measures of globalization based on various indicators. These efforts led to the rapid proliferation of major globalization indices such as the KOF Index of Globalization.1
