Roland Robertson

Roland Robertson lectures at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, United Kingdom. He is a sociologist and theorist of globalization. His theories have focused significantly on a more phenomenological and psycho-social approach than that of more materialist oriented theorists such as Immanuel Wallerstein or Fredric Jameson. For Robertson, the most interesting aspect of our globalized (post?)modernity is the way in which, for people around the world, a global consciousness has evolved. He lays down a progression of "phases" that capture the central aspects of different eras in global history. He asserts that we have entered the fifth phase, that of Global Uncertainty.

Robertson's main works are "Globalization: Social Theory and Global Culture" (1992) and the edited volume "Global Modernities". In "Globalization..." he was the first sociologist to define the term globalization (as “the compression of the world and the intensification of the consciousness of the world as a whole”). His definition was based on the Japanese business term glocalization, which he introduced into Western social science discourse.

Criticisms

Some people argue that the discussion of phases clouds the fact that history does not follow a set process. To assume this would be missing the point. In other words understanding cannot be segmented. Another major criticism of Robertson's work is his idea of global consciousness. The very notion of global consciousness has conservative overtones. This outdated interpretation of global life fails to consider the many social and economic differences that characterize the contemporary world. For example, theorists such as Ulrich Beck, Madeline Bunting and Jeremy Rifkin all note that society has still got a major cultural divide between rich and poor. Robertson would appear to fall more in line with Anthony Giddens and his notion of the individual.

References

[http://www.abdn.ac.uk/sociology/people/details.php?id=r.robertson University of Aberdeen faculty information for Roland Robertson]