The geography of globalization: a single space for multiple territories

Abstract

The paper opens by offering the hypothesis of a twin effect to the globalization phenomenon, namely the creation of a single economic space which brings in its wake a multiplicity of territories, these being, in the author's opinion, the major competitors on the open market for capital, technology and markets as such.It is within this indivisible yet divided ecological context that the author sets out to examine what has to have become regional public policy, that is that state policy which in close partnership with civil society (and thus its markets) seeks to optimize the standing of its territory within the global whole at best or to off-set its being marginalized-which is more often the case - by the globalization process imposing itself everywhere. The paper sees the globalization process as being nothing new in itself but as having been boosted out of all previous recognition by our growing openness to inter-activity. The most patent embodiment of this observed propensity is declared to be that network of persons, companies, organizations and, territories (of all sizes) that acts as the motor for 21st century growth and to such a degree that the greatest challenge now facing any non-territorial government is to assure that its territories are soundly linked up with this hub of interconnectability. The author holds that consequently any social system must now be up to being at once modern, competitive, egalitarian and open to general participation. Within such a framework one of the prime requirements to be met is the finding of a valid role for the hitherto a-political region that would at the same time intelligently support overall territorial integration within the globalized context. The paper approaches these issues under four headings: 1) a general introduction; 2) a series of considerations as to the meaning and implications of globalization as such; 3) a reconsideration of present-day regional policy in Latin America for all its hardly being worthy of being so called and; 4) proposals for a regional policy to fit the demands of the 21st century.