Authoritarian Governance, Power, and the Politics of Rescaling

Abstract

In this paper I critically assess the alleged process of globalisation of the world economy. Five interrelated themes are addressed. First, I argue that the ‘real’ myth of the globalisation discourse is part of an intensifying ideological, political, socioeconomic, and cultural struggle over the organisation of society and the position of the citizen therein. Second, the ‘mythical’ resurrection of the ‘local’ or ‘regional’ scale—both in theory and in practice—is an integral part of the ‘myth’ of globalisation. Third, the preeminence of the ‘global’ in much of the literature and political rhetoric obfuscates, marginalises, and silences an intense and ongoing sociospatial struggle in which the reconfiguration of spatial scales of governance takes a central position. Fourth, the ‘rhetoric’ of globalisation is paralleled by and facilitates the emergence of more authoritarian or at least autocratic forms of governance. Fifth, the proliferation of new modes and forms of resistance to the restless process of deterritorialisation-reterritorialisation of capital requires greater attention to ‘spatial scale’ in order to assess how the emerging new ‘gestalt of scale’ could be turned into an emancipatory and empowering process.