The Grand Delusions of Globalization

This introductory essay will give a brief overview of the debate on globalization, including different periodizations (500-year perspective 250-year perspective and 50-year perspective) which shape diverging understandings of (de)globalization. Regarding the current conjuncture, we have diagnosed three areas that are causing cracks in the status quo of neoliberal globalization: geoeconomic competition between nation states; conflicts within societies, particularly related to the rise of the far-right; and conflicts over ecological limits. Although neoliberal globalization has been legitimized by the promise of peace and prosperity through free trade and endless growth, these conflicts have been built into the system from the very beginning. Therefore, we call these contradictions ‘the grand delusions of globalization’. After presenting this overarching framework, the introduction will conclude with an outline of the articles in this special issue, thereby highlighting different drivers of deglobalization, particularly the interplay between sudden exceptional events (‘deglobalization by disaster’) and long-term strategies (‘deglobalization by design’).