Kristín Loftsdóttir

Irma Erlingsdóttir

Valur Ingimundarson

The term 'globalization' has been used to describe the intensification of cross-border flows - whether in the realm of ideas, culture, finance/trade, or human mobility. Like many other vital ideas, such as nationalism and modernization, globalization is fraught with controversy. But no matter where one stands, it is a site of an ongoing intellectual endeavor of definition, interpretation and redefinition - a contested terrain that continues to have profound, if unequal, impact on people's lives around the world. Given the inherent tension between the global and local, this phenomenon is perhaps more accurately explained by the conceptual hybrid 'globalization'. The diverse contributions in this volume are an attempt to come to grips with some of the implications of this process by problematizing and engaging it. It grew out of an interdisciplinary conference on globalization held at the University of Iceland in late autumn 2002 as part of an international research project co-ordinated by GERM (Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherches sur les Mondialisations), involving a large group of academics, universities, and institutions. The volume emphasizes specific aspects of the globalization debate: politics, culture, gender, and language/translation. One focus - articulated among others by Zygmunt Bauman - is on the reconfigurations of political power relationships between the West and the Rest, the 'war on terror' and conflict resolution, whether in the name of peacekeeping, nation-building or identity changes. Another theme involves the problematization of the culture concept, its place in the public domain, and the redefinition of identities as a result of globalization. A third aspect deals with attempts to illuminate how globalization processes may deepen gender, class and race inequalities in the absence of binding rules and collective social responsibility. Finally, the focus is on the changing attitudes toward language/translation in a heavily mediatized and accelerated world.

Politics, Culture, Language

Topographies of Globalization

Philippe Urfalino

Being the first casualty of the international financial crisis, Iceland was, in many ways, turned into a laboratory when it came to responding to one of the largest corporate failures on record. This edited volume offers the most wide-ranging treatment of the Icelandic financial crisis and its political, economic, social, and constitutional consequences. Interdisciplinary, with contributions from historians, economists, sociologists, legal scholars, political scientists and philosophers, it also compares and contrasts the Icelandic experience with other national and global crises. It examines the economic magnitude of the crisis, the social and political responses, and the unique transitional justice mechanisms used to deal with it. It looks at backward-looking elements, including a societal and legal reckoning – which included the indictment of a Prime Minister and jailing of leading bankers for their part in the financial crisis – and forward-looking features, such as an attempt to rewrite the Icelandic constitution. Throughout, it underscores the contemporary relevance of the Icelandic case. While the Icelandic economic recovery has been much quicker than expected; it shows that public faith in political elites has not been restored. This text will be of key interest to scholars, policy-makers and students of the financial crisis in such fields as European politics, international political economy, comparative politics, sociology, economics, contemporary history, and more broadly the social sciences and humanities.

The Politics of Blame, Protest, and Reconstruction

Iceland’s Financial Crisis

Giti Chandra

Since the MeToo hashtag went viral in 2017, the movement has burgeoned across social media, moving beyond Twitter and into living rooms and courtrooms. It has spread unevenly across the globe, with some countries and societies more impacted than others, and interacted with existing feminist movements, struggles, and resistances. This interdisciplinary handbook identifies thematic and theoretical areas that require attention and interrogation, inviting the reader to make connections between the ways in which the #MeToo movement has panned out in different parts of the world, seeing it in the context of the many feminist and gendered struggles already in place, as well as the solidarities with similar movements across countries and cultures. With contributions from gender experts spanning a wide range of disciplines including political science, history, sociology, law, literature, and philosophy, this groundbreaking book will have contemporary relevance for scholars, feminists, gender researchers, and policy-makers across the globe.

Irma Erlingsdóttir

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