DISTRIBUTED GLOBALISATION: IDENTITY, VIRTUALITY AND ADJACENCY

This paper examines those processes of globalization in the world economy which are impacting on the choices facing individuals, organisations and communities seeking a role and an identity within a complex global system. While the global economy is not an entirely new phenomenon, the speed of communications and transactions, and the increasingly seamless nature of the emerging media are unique. The key role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in globalisation creates new forms of locational and functional differentiation. These result in new inequities as communities in both "under " and "over " developed economies are opened to direct competition from across national and cultural boundaries. The pressure on local communities also operates at the level of region and national state. Appropriate information and communication infrastructure is becoming as significant as physical location in accessing the global economy. The In examining "strong globalisation " arguments the paper draws attention to the Technocrat Movement of thirties North America. In exploring the relationship between place, space, community and technology, the paper makes use of Melvin Webber’s definitions of “non-place urban realm ” from 1964. The aim is to identify issues of relevance to the emergent situation which have already been addressed by observers and critics of earlier change and to ensure that the genuinely unique features of current trends are appreciated. Technology in a Global Context The conjunction of an immense military establishment and a huge arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence- economic, political, and even spiritual-is felt in every city, every state house, and every office of the federal government... In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex