This discussion examines the disciplinary boundaries that affect the globalization debates that take place across different disciplinary subfields. I argue that the significance of globalization in these debates is due to its high-profile status in the public arena over the post-1989 era. Substantively, globalization is part of a new terminology articulated within the social sciences as a means of capturing the multitude of important shifts in the social world. Its interpretation cannot take place in isolation from related concepts. What is truly important though is the development of this new conceptual vocabulary, which encompasses cosmopolitanism, glocalization, hybridity, transnationalism and interculturalism. The globalization debates are an important venue for negotiating this new vocabulary and showcasing its importance for several fields of study. From this point of view, the significance of developing a single integrated theory of globalization is an issue of secondary importance.
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