Global fragments: subjectivity and class politics in discourses of globalization

In this paper we critically examine existing discourses of globalization by focusing on the conceptualizations of subjectivity and the possibilities for class politics. Two forms of subjectivity emerge from the radical political economy literature: the ‘national Keynesian’ and the ‘global imperative’. Although the cultural analyses of globalization emphasize a plurality of subjectivities, they operate in a manner similar to that of radical political economy, deriving subjectivities from a logic of globalization in an economistic manner. Our goal is to challenge the givenness of capitalist globalization (along with its presumed necessary effects) in order to widen the possible forms of subjectivity and forms of class transformation.