I am taking a required 200 level course entitled “The Geography of Global Change” on one of the most liberal campuses in the US (Boulder).
In this class, my professor has classified all theories concerning global change a.k.a globalization into three categories (we have even had to do in-class reporting as to which of these we belong)
a) Hyperglobalist (“mcdonaldization,” “reduction of state sovereignty,” etc…)
b) Skeptic (globalization is a myth, world is actually less interdependant, it’s an agenda of the west in power)
c) Transformationalist (“New architecture of world order,” “no clear end point”)
What I find disconcerting is that when you search Google for “hyperglobalism” you get only 69 results. It was at this finding that my baloney meter went off.
The other day we watched a video in class, made in 1994. It was a documentary on the World Bank and IMF. Before the movie started, one of my peers asked if it was leveraged towards a certain point of view, and she says that “they present both sides so it’s really hard to say.” This was not true at all. The movie was highly critical of them. The only other film she had us watch is a lecture given by Doreen Massey, a transformationalist who “critiques globalism”.
So anyway, 69 results in Google, environmentalist oriented textbook, and possible confirmation bias in my professor. What i’m curious about is, who is the sort of person who uses the term “hyperglobalist”. Where did it come from? I confronted her with this information (very tactfully) in class, saying that it was very hard to research the concept. She says I should come to her office so she can point me to information. I hate to say it but that sounds like more propaganda.
So, any dopers got the straight dope on this? Is she FUDing us into being transformationalists? I really like it when my professors have a certain POV, it adds a little flavor and reality to information. But what I don’t like is when they are not forthcoming about it, and I am concerned that this is the case. Professor Francis Fukuyama, Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy at John Hopkin’s University, is a Hyperglobalist, and any student can go look on the Internet and find out his views on the world. But she refuses to tell us her views until “after the class”. So, she must have heard this arcane term “hyperglobalism” somewhere, and in some context. I’m really interested in finding out if anyone has that knowledge.