1The term globalization has gained a lot of prominence during the last two decades. First introduced into the public and academic debate in the 1960s, it has become a “buzz-word” indicating widespread changes in the realms of politics, culture and, most important, economies around the world since the end of the Cold War and the demise of the bi-polar system in the early 1990s. However, after having been discussed for more than two decades, the concept of globalization still is a contentious issue in public debate as well as in academic circles. In fact, looking at the vast amount of, often quite contradictory, literature on the topic, globalization can be regarded as one of the most controversially discussed issues in the public and academic2sphere. Controversies not only exist regarding the question of who benefits from the, vaguely defined, globalization process, but also regarding the very basic question whether globalization really exists or is just an exaggerated view on a process which has taken place for a long time (Held et al. 1999, Hirst and Thompson 1996,Ohmae 1990).
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Discourse: Theoretical and methodological perspectives
2.1 What is Discourse?
2.1.1 General Usage
2.1.2 Structural Linguistics
2.1.3 Habermas’ Normative Approach to Discourse
2.1.4 Michel Foucault’s Discourse Theory
2.1.4 Post-Marxist Perspectives on Discourse
2.2 Methodological Perspectives
2.2.1 Historical Semantics
2.2.2 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)
2.3 Methodological Framework
3. The Discursive Framework
3.1 Discursive Framework I: Economic Data
3.1.1 Global Economic Trends
3.1.2 The United States and the Global Economy
3.2 Discursive Framework II: The Globalization Debate
3.2.1 The Globalist Perspective
3.2.2 The Sceptic Perspective
3.2.3 The Transformationalist Perspective
3.3 Summary
4. Analysis
4.1 Discursive Events
4.1.1 The Foundation of the WTO
4.1.2 The “Battle of Seattle”
4.1.3 The Terrorist Attacks on the World Trade Center
4.2 The Corpus
4.3 General Overview
4.3.1 Step I: General Word Count
4.3.2 Step II: Word Count Regarding Discursive Events
4.3.3 Step III: Connotations of the Term “Globalization”
4.4 Textual Analysis
4.4.1 Selection of Sample Texts
4.4.2 Text Analysis and Interpretation
4.5 Summary
5. Conclusion
6. Bibliography
Research Objectives and Thematic Focus
This study aims to develop a trans-disciplinary approach to understand how language shapes the representation of economic globalization. It specifically investigates the relationship between language, power, and the discursive construction of economic globalization, focusing on how these representations have evolved over time within the United States discourse.
- The relationship between discourse and the social construction of reality.
- The role of discursive events (e.g., WTO formation, the Battle of Seattle, 9/11) in shaping public perception.
- A comparative analysis of economic discourse in The Economist and Business Week.
- Application of post-structuralist and critical discourse analysis frameworks to economic topics.
- The interplay between global economic trends and the political/cultural debates surrounding globalization.
Excerpt from the Book
2.1.4 Michel Foucault’s Discourse Theory
In the 1960s, Michel Foucault began to develop a discourse theory which moved beyond the structuralist model of language and addressed the question of normativity from a different angle. From his perspective normativity always reflects a discursive practice, which needs to be deconstructed. In contrast to the structuralist assumption that the structure of language, and therefore discourse, is an independent system in which actors and texts merely represent ambiguous sign constructions, Foucault reagrded the framework of power relations, which regulates the production and perpetuation of discourses, as a focal point of his theory.
In this way, Foucault develops a theory of knowledge which moves beyond the epistemological questions of accuracy and representation, and focuses on the ways in which meaning is created and on underlying power relations, which enable this meaning to be established as “truth”. In the following discussion, I develop Foucault’s ideas of truth, power, and knowledge and also take a closer look at his conceptualization of discourses, which constitutes a basic element of my own approach to the discourse of globalization.
Truth is a central element of Foucault’s theory of discourses. Combined with the concepts of power and knowledge, he argues that knowledge is not a pure, value-free search for truth, but rather that power operates in the processing of information, resulting in something being labelled as fact or fiction. The power involved in this process manifests itself in a “thorough process of ratification by those in positions of authority”.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the rise of globalization as a central academic and public debate and defines the study’s focus on the discursive representation of economic globalization in the United States.
2. Discourse: Theoretical and methodological perspectives: Reviews key theoretical foundations of discourse analysis, including the work of Foucault, Habermas, and post-Marxist thinkers, while establishing the methodological tools for the study.
3. The Discursive Framework: Provides the socio-economic context and academic debates regarding globalization, serving as a point of reference for the subsequent empirical analysis.
4. Analysis: Presents the core research, examining how specific discursive events influenced the representation of globalization in the selected business journals.
5. Conclusion: Synthesizes the findings, confirming how discursive events trigger shifts in meaning and how institutional perspectives influence the portrayal of globalization.
6. Bibliography: Lists the academic sources and data materials used throughout the research.
Keywords
Globalization, Economic Globalization, Discourse Analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis, Michel Foucault, Norman Fairclough, Power Relations, Discursive Events, The Economist, Business Week, United States, Neoliberalism, Social Construction, Epistemology, Hegemony.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this research?
The work examines the discursive construction of economic globalization, focusing specifically on how the term and concept have been represented in the United States over time.
What are the primary thematic areas?
The study covers the intersection of global economic trends, political responses to globalization, and the role of the media in shaping public perceptions of international economic integration.
What is the central research question?
The study asks how the discursive representation of economic globalization has changed over time in the United States and what role social events play in these changes.
Which methodology is employed?
The author uses a critical discourse analytical framework, combining Foucault’s concept of power and knowledge with Siegfried Jäger’s and Norman Fairclough’s approaches to analyze textual samples.
What is the focus of the main body?
The main part of the book analyzes the impact of specific events—the foundation of the WTO, the “Battle of Seattle,” and the 9/11 terrorist attacks—on the globalization discourse in The Economist and Business Week.
Which keywords define this work?
Key terms include globalization, discourse analysis, power relations, media coverage, and ideological construction.
Why were The Economist and Business Week selected?
These journals were chosen because they represent the business segment of media, they are electronically accessible for large-scale analysis, and they offer different editorial perspectives on economic issues.
How does the author view the relationship between discourse and reality?
The author adopts a post-positivist perspective, arguing that reality is not an objective "truth" out there, but is constructed and constituted through discourse and language.
What does the term "discursive event" imply in this context?
Discursive events are defined as social events that, once made public, become focal points for intense debate and trigger shifts in the underlying threads of discourse.
Did the author find that 9/11 changed the globalization discourse?
Yes, the author notes that the 9/11 attacks shifted the discourse from purely economic issues to include security-related connotations, often reinforcing a "us vs. them" dichotomy.
- Citation du texte
- Christof Dieterle (Auteur), 2006, The Discourse of Globalization - Shifts in the discursive Representation of Economic Globalization in the United States - Two Examples, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/55427
