CAREER: Globalization and the Transnational Development of Civil Society

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

This CAREER project brings together three research components and three education initiatives in a comprehensive, integrated, five year, career plan focused on the transnational development of civil society. The project is founded on the premise that the way in which social actors network transnationally in the context of economic globalization has a multi-layered geography and that by researching and explaining the various scales of spatial reorganization comprising this geography we can also enable students to better come to terms with their own geographical positioning in a more globally integrated world. The links between the teaching and research are thus reciprocal and mutually reinforcing. The three research components explore the question of how emerging economic interdependencies are leading towards transnational civil society at three different scales: cross-border, continental, and global. Using ethnographic methods and institutional surveys of a variety of case-studies (ranging from the Singapore growth triangle to transnational labor networks to business school curricula), the research will examine how economic links across borders are related to the emergence of transnational civil society networks and knowledges. The intrinsic importance of this research lies in the development of a more sophisticated and multi-faceted understanding of globalization. In addition, by virtue of being ombined with a series of educational initiatives at the University of Washington, the research also promises to enrich undergraduate and graduate training with a more community outreach oriented approach to teaching about the spaces of civil society and their transformation in the context of global economic integration. The three main education components are: 1) a new introductory level course on globalization aimed to introduce more students to both Geography and International Studies at the same time; 2) a new Globalization Freshman Interest Group and ambassador outreach program to high-schools in minority neighborhoods in Seattle; and 3) the development of a service learning option for graduate students in Geography so that they can conduct internships in local non-governmental organizations and schools. The synergies linking these education initiatives with the research on the changing scales of civil society networking are many, but centrally the project will contribute to university-wide attempts to integrate primary research with teaching aimed at preparing students to be citizens of an evermore integrated world.