Globalization, deglobalization and knowledge production

Abstract

Abstract Although globalization processes have brought the world closer through the exchange of knowledge, ideas and practices, advances in knowledge dissemination have not been mirrored by expansion in sites and modes of knowledge production. This article probes this disjuncture and asks how deglobalization might chart different pathways by delving into the intellectual history of the making of International Relations (IR). Focusing its gaze on the structuring principles of knowledge creation and modes of knowing rather than specific issues and problematiques of IR, it analyses the historical impact of western Enlightenment thinking through centuries-long imperialism, which continues to limit the agency of many states in the re-making of their life-worlds. The article describes deglobalization as a longue durée historical response that offers different possibilities for countering or challenging the discursive hegemony of the ‘West’. It discusses a ‘nationalist’ response by China—a rising power and a more dispersed, global academic endeavour seeking to decolonize IR's modes of knowledge production to better account for the diverse ground realities of its many worlds.