Presentation

The paradigm of deglobalization was advanced as an alternative paradigm by Focus on the Global South (Focus) in 2000, at a time that corporate-driven globalization appeared to be irresistible. It has had an interesting history since then. Deglobalization first attracted attention and provoked discussion in progressive circles. It was only after the 2008 financial implosion that it attracted attention from the mainstream, with The Economist writing that with the “integration of the world economy in retreat on almost every front,” the economic meltdown “has popularized a new term: deglobalization." Nearly 20 years after “deglobalization” was first introduced  by Focus, one of its main authors looks back at its strengths and weaknesses, and how its interaction with other alternative frameworks can be a mutually enriching exercise.

The main paper includes an annex, Deglobalization Applied: A Post Neoliberal Paradigm for Myanmar, which outlines concrete application of the principles of deglobalization to a society searching for a way out of an exploitative economic system.  The annex is the final chapter of the report, Paradigm Trap: The development establishment’s embrace of Myanmar and how to break loose, and reproduced with the permission of the Transnational Institute.

Focus on the Global South