The Global Turn. Eve Darian-Smith
“We have been waiting for a book that would investigate the full impact of globalization on the social sciences and humanities. Here it is.”—Boaventura de Sousa Santos, author of Epistemologies of the South: Justice against Epistemicide
“More than a manual of methodologies, this innovative book is a reflection on the emerging field of Global Studies—what it is, what it can do, and how it can do it. It’s an important book, one that will be widely used and discussed. It provides pathways for research for anyone working on issues related to our increasingly global milieu.”—Mark Juergensmeyer, editor of Thinking Globally: A Global Studies Reader
“Globalization respects no borders—between countries or between disciplines. This book will be greatly valued by researchers and students for its clear, comprehensive overview of concepts and methods in a field of challenging diversity.”—Ulf Hannerz, Professor, Stockholm University, and author of Writing Future Worlds
“Sets a new standard for linking theory, case studies, and research design in the study of global processes. The theoretical overview is wide-ranging and accessible, the extended case studies are vivid and timely, and the presentation of research methods and design will be of great value to both teachers and students.”—Arjun Appadurai, Paulette Goddard Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication, New York University
“The authors take on the heroic—and ambitious—task of giving definition to an emerging field of inquiry, one whose rise tolls the history of the present in a critically important way. They bring to it an entirely fresh perspective, simultaneously laying out a theoretical framework, a methodological prospectus, and, most of all, a promise to decenter knowledge production from its received, often sterile, hegemonic centers.”—John Comaroff, Hugh K. Foster Professor of African and African American Studies and of Anthropology, Harvard University
“A stunning example of transdisciplinary scholarship. Drawing on their long experience in global studies, the authors show how no academic discipline has remained untouched by the transformations of our global age. It provides students and scholars with a brilliant introduction to transdisciplinary scholarship.”—Thomas Duve, Director, Max Planck Institute for European Legal History
“An important step in the transformation of Global Studies from a pluri-disciplinary field of inquiry to a self-confident approach in its own right.”—Matthias Middell, Professor, Global and European Studies Institute, University of Leipzig
“A field-defining text that invites ongoing critical thinking on its global context. It succeeds at presenting Global Studies in a way that gives the field coherence and methodological meaning at the same time that it preserves opportunities for open-ended transdisciplinary exploration and innovation.”—Matt Sparke, Director of Integrated Social Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle
“Scholars of Global Studies have been striving to define the field. This book is a great contribution to these efforts. It constructs a comprehensive theoretical framework, research design, and methodology of Global Studies.”—Changgang Guo, Director, Center for Global Studies, Shanghai University
“Reflects the intellectual excitement of Global Studies. The authors show that this timely field is not characterized by a set disciplinary canon, but that at its core, it is driven by a search for fresh perspectives, alternative imaginaries, and new questions. A must-read for students and scholars who are thinking and working globally.”—Dominic Sachsenmaier, Professor, Department of Sinology and Department of History, University of Göttingen
The Global Turn
The Global Turn
THEORIES, RESEARCH DESIGNS, AND
METHODS FOR GLOBAL STUDIES
Eve Darian-Smith and
Philip C. McCarty
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2017 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Darian-Smith, Eve, 1963– author. | McCarty, Philip C., author.
Title: The global turn : theories, research designs, and methods for global studies / Eve Darian-Smith and Philip C. McCarty.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016053763 (print) | LCCN 2016056135 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520293021 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780520293038 (alk. paper) | ISBN 9780520966307 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Globalization—Study and teaching.
Classification: LCC JZ1318 .D366 2017 (print) | LCC JZ1318 (ebook) | DDC 303.48/2071—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016053763
Manufactured in the United States of America
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To Pammie and Ian, mum and dad
To great mentors everywhere who selflessly teach their students to think creatively and independently, and to push beyond what they were taught
The world is a sphere, there is no East or West.
—Ai Weiwei (2012)
The image on the cover of the paperback edition, Iron Ore Landscape by Fred Williams, confronts the viewer with the vastness of an Australian landscape. Williams upset Western visual conventions by incorporating indigenous aesthetics that include multiple perspectives, visual planes, and a tilted horizon. With no obvious focal point, framing, foreground, or way to measure distance, the viewer is “unmoored” and encouraged to experience being in the landscape with an overwhelming sense of space and an infinite horizon. Scholars encountering global perspectives may experience something similar.
Contents
1.Global Studies as a New Field of Inquiry
2.Why Is Global Studies Important?
3.A Global Theoretical Framework
4.Global Research Design
5.Global Methods and Methodologies
6.A Global Case Study Method
7.Examples of Global Studies Research
Conclusion
Appendix A. A Global Case Study Outline
Appendix B. List of Global Studies Journals
References