Portals of Globalization –
An Introduction
Abstract
Portals of globalization is an analytical category introduced in globalization research to investigate how global lows are anchored and articulated in particular places. It has been used to analyse the way lows and controls come together on multiple scales, and how actors in these places actively manage global entanglements. Consequently, the changing positionality of these places in global networks can reveal the scope, function, and transformation of global connections and shifting spatial orders. Stemming from research debates on the historicity, regional diference, and spatial complexity of globalization processes, this issue seeks to strengthen empirical insights from diferent disciplinary and regional perspectives. It brings together research on past and present portals of globalization to facilitate the dialogue across disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. A special focus on a variety of local and regional contexts in Africa, Asia, and Latin America allows us to re-evaluate assumptions about the centres and peripheries of globalization processes, the mechanisms and directionality of circulations, and the asymmetries in global connectedness.