expense of established political institutions and practices. The process,
however, is also deeply political. For one thing, globalization is deter-
mined by the decisions and actions of states and international organ-
izations, whichbuild infrastructures, change regulations, andcooperate
with each other. At the same time, globalization is a political trans-
formation in itself, giving rise to new and more interconnected ideas,
identities, forums, and conflicts. The world, rightly note Richard Higgott
and Morten Ougaard, is becoming more and more like a polity, an
increasingly interdependent system, with dense networks of relation-
ships, and a growing sense of community.^80
The general idea of a world community has been put forward and
promoted for a number of years, with various images and representa-
tions stressing the unity of humanity. We haveOnly One Earth,stated
a widely read and pioneering book, published in 1972 by economist
Barbara Ward and biologist Rene ́Dubos. We must thus begin, added in
1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development
headed by former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland,
to envisionOur Common Future. Doing so and working in partnership
for development, emphasized in 2005 the Commission for Africa
launched a year earlier by Tony Blair, is inOur Common Interest.^81
The least we can say is that, as a community, humanity remains far
from such a unity of purpose. Metaphors of unity may thus not
provide the most appropriate representations for the global polity.
The world is not and may not become a democratic, global order. But
for a long time it has been a public sphere where public debates about
common purposes have been taking place. And these debates, we
argue, have a structure. They are primarily a conflict between the left
and the right over the meaning of equality, within and among nations.
(^80) Richard Higgott and Morten Ougaard, “Introduction: Beyond System and
Society – Towards a Global Polity?,” in Morten Ougaard and Richard Higgott
81 (eds.),Towards a Global Polity, London, Routledge, 2002, pp. 2–3.
Barbara Ward and Rene ́Dubos,Only One Earth: The Care and Maintenance
of a Small Planet, New York, W. W. Norton, 1972; World Commission on
Environment and Development,Our Common Future, Oxford University
Press, 1987; Commission for Africa,Our Common Interest: Report, London,
Commission for Africa, March 2005 (www.commissionforafrica.org).
A clash over equality 31