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Globalization and the Universe: A Short Re-Locating
This essay reframes globalization through a “cosmic” lens, situating human interconnectedness within the deep history of the universe. Tracing the evolution of matter, life, and social complexity from the Big Bang to contemporary geopolitics, it argues that globalization is neither linear nor inevitable but rare, fragile, and reversible. While the universe’s history reveals moments of extraordinary cooperation-from cells to civilizations-it also warns of fragmentation, hostility, and decline. Against rising nationalism, ecological crisis, and multipolar competition, the essay asks whether globalization can evolve into a more humane, environmentally grounded form of collective existence, or whether separation is humanity’s likely future.
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EDITORS
Executive editor
Michael Curtin
managing editor
Victor Faessel
Advisory committee
Janet Afary
Alison Brysk
Jan Nederveen Pieterse
Contributing editors
Daniele Archibugi
Neera Chandhoke
Scarlett Cornelissen
Ayça Çubukçu
Richard Falk
Bishnupriya Ghosh
Penelope Green
Marwan Kraidy
Jie-Hyun Lim
Matthias Middell
Laikwan Pang
Yeidy Rivero
EDITORIAL BOARD
Lila Abu-Lughod
Celso Amorim
Ien Ang
Helmut Anheier
Arjun Appadurai
Roland Benedikter
Manuela Boatca
Craig Calhoun
Manuel Castells
Rey Chow
Allen Chun
Manuela Ciotti
Elaine Coburn
Donatella della Porta
Ana Maria Ochoa Gautier
Abdellah Hammoudi
Maria Immacolata Vassallo
De Lopes
Aniko Imre
Koichi Iwabuchi
Paul James
Dayan Jayatilleka
Mark Juergensmeyer
Habibul Khondker
Ranjani Mazumdar
Anne McClintock
Nivedita Menon
Sara Mourad
Tarik Sabry
Dominic Sachsenmaier
Saskia Sassen
Mona Kanwal Sheikh
Manfred Steger
Daya Thussu
Anna Tsing
David Wank
Wendy Willems
Steven Witt
Surichai Wungae