Authoritarian governance, power, and the politics of rescaling

In this paper I critically assess the alleged process of globalisation of the world economy. Five interrelated themes are addressed. First, I argue that the ʹrealʹ myth of the globalisation discourse is part of an intensifying ideological, political, socioeconomic, and cultural struggle over the organisation of society and the position of the citizen therein. Second, the ʹmythicalʹ resurrection of the ʹlocalʹ or ʹregionalʹ scale -- both in theory and in practice -- is an integral part of the ʹmythʹ of globalisation. Third, the preeminence of the ʹglobalʹ in much of the literature and political rhetoric obfuscates, marginalises, and silences an intense and ongoing sociospatial struggle in which the reconfiguration of spatial scales of governance takes a central position. Fourth, the ʹrhetoricʹ of globalisation is paralleled by and facilitates the emergence of more authoritarian or at least autocratic forms of governance. Fifth, the proliferation of new modes and forms of resistance to the restless process of deterritorialisation - reterritorialisation of capital requires greater attention to ʹspatial scaleʹ in order to assess how the emerging new ʹgestalt of scaleʹ could be turned into an emancipatory and empowering process.