Glocalization

Glocalization is a rather awkward neologism of indeterminate origin, coined to describe the interaction between global and local forces in the modern world. The term is most often used to describe how the process of (economic) globalization is subject to the countervailing tendencies of (cultural) localization, with an emphasis on social agency and indeterminacy. The precise origins of the word are uncertain. Some, such as sociologist Roland Robertson (1994), have suggested that the term was conceived in Japan in the 1980s, translated from the word dochakuka, referring to specific forms of business practice whereby globalized production systems were adapted to suit particular local conditions. Others suggest that the term was first used at a Global Change Exhibition in Bonn in 1990, becoming a marketing buzzword ...