Examining the Promise of Global Studies

2019 ◽  
pp. 164-186
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Paul Amar

This chapter offers a global history, as well as cultural, legal, and political–economic analysis, of “trafficking,” a set of relationships and processes often constituted as the dark mirror of globalization. First, the chapter traces how the term “trafficking” emerged. Second, it examines the evolution of “trafficking” in the context of “drug wars,” from the imperial Opium Wars in China in the early nineteenth century to the twenty-first-century “narco” battlegrounds of Mexico. Third, it surveys how global studies-related research has developed critical lenses for analyzing the politics of “sex trafficking” and “human trafficking.” Finally, it examines the term “trafficker” as selectively deployed along racial and social lines in ways that produce obscuring pseudo-analyses of the violence of global capitalism that preserve the impunity of certain powerful actors, create monstrous misrepresentations of globalizing forms of violence, and stir moral and racial panics on a global scale.


Author(s):  
Saskia Sassen

Although the global is often portrayed in opposition to the national, this chapter explores how the global can be structured inside the national in at least three ways that are significant for the field of global studies. They are a) the endogenizing or the localizing of global dynamics in the national milieu; b) the creation of formations that, although global, are articulated with particular actors, cultures, or projects; and c) the denationalizing of what had historically been constructed as national. Global studies research into such subnationally based processes and dynamics of globalization requires methodologies and theorizations that engage not only global scalings but also subnational scalings as components of global processes. It makes possible the use of long-standing research techniques in the study of globalization, and it provides a bridge between globalization and the wealth of national and subnational data sets.


Author(s):  
Kathryn H. Jacobsen

This chapter discusses the history of and responses to global epidemics of serious diseases. Case studies of cholera, influenza, and HIV/AIDS illustrate typical reactions to pandemic events. The initial stages of a pandemic are often characterized by collective anxiety and a desire for isolation. As the pandemic progresses, there are calls for collective global responses to protect human security and contain outbreaks while maintaining international trade and travel. As pandemics enter a recovery phase, there is often a shift toward the use of advocacy to promote international cooperation, secure continued funding for global health activities, and advance other strategic goals. The rhetoric of pandemics is now being used to describe obesity and other emerging noncommunicable diseases because the language of pandemics connotes risk and demands global action. Pandemics are the result of global interactions and globalization processes, and studies of pandemics are, by definition, global studies.


Author(s):  
James Mittelman ◽  
Daniel Esser

This chapter assesses transdisciplinarity as an epistemological and methodological approach to research and teaching in the emerging field of global studies. It posits that the world’s most pressing problems in the areas of migration, health, and intersectional identities, to name a few, are unlikely to be addressed convincingly by inquiries rooted exclusively in singular social science disciplines. At the same time, transdisciplinarity is understood as a means to complement disciplinary research, not to dispense with it. By foregrounding global–local dynamics and their effects across scales, global studies can draw from a wealth of approaches and experiences in interdisciplinary scholarship without becoming entangled in protracted epistemological battles over scholarly turf. This chapter then provides examples of transdisciplinary research in global studies and closes by stressing the importance of disciplinary methodological innovations as building blocks for multimodal designs and arguing for methodological rigor in global studies, whether transdisciplinary or not.


This handbook provides an overview of the emerging field of global studies. Since the end of the Cold War, globalization has been reshaping the modern world, and an array of new scholarship has risen to make sense of it in its various transnational manifestations—including economic, social, cultural, ideological, technological, environmental, and in new communications. The chapters discuss various aspects in the field through a broad range of approaches. Several chapters focus on the emergence of the field and its historical antecedents. Other chapters explore analytic and conceptual approaches to teaching and research in global studies. The largest section deals with the subject matter of global studies—challenges from diasporas and pandemics to the global city and the emergence of a transnational capitalist class. The final two sections feature chapters that take a critical view of globalization from diverse perspectives and essays on global citizenship—the ideas and institutions that guide an emerging global civil society. This handbook focuses on global studies more than on the phenomenon of globalization itself, although the various aspects of globalization are central to understanding how the field is currently being shaped.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Himika Gupta ◽  
Sivasankar Malaichamy ◽  
Ashwin Mallipatna ◽  
Sakthivel Murugan ◽  
Nallathambi Jeyabalan ◽  
...  

Abstract Background India accounts for 20% of the global retinoblastoma (RB) burden. However, the existing data on RB1 gene germline mutations and its influence on clinical decisions is minimally explored. Methods Fifty children with RB underwent complete clinical examination and appropriate multidisciplinary management. Screening of germline RB1 gene mutations was performed through next-generation sequencing and Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) analysis. The mutation and non-mutation groups were compared for clinical parameters especially severity, progression and recurrence. Results Twenty-nine patients had bilateral RB (BLRB) and 21 had unilateral RB (ULRB). The genetic analysis revealed 20 RB1 variations in 29 probands, inclusive of 3 novel mutations, known 16 mutations and heterozygous whole gene deletions. The mutation detection rate (MDR) was 86.2% in BLRB and 19% in ULRB. Associations of disease recurrence (p = 0.021), progression (p = 0.000) and higher percentage of optic nerve invasion, subretinal seeds and high-risk pathological factors were observed in the mutation group. Clinical management was influenced by the presence of germline mutations, particularly while deciding on enucleation, frequency of periodic follow up and radiotherapy. Conclusions We identified novel RB1 mutations, and our mutation detection rate was on par with the previous global studies. In our study, genetic results influenced clinical management and we suggest that it should be an essential and integral component of RB-care in India and elsewhere.


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