World city actor-networks

TLDR

The concept of networks is fashionable but not new, having evolved in various forms over time. The paper introduces new theoretical ideas and argues for novel theoretical and empirical directions in globalization and world cities, emphasizing engagement with actor‑network and non‑representational theory. The authors review recent network concepts, contrast the hierarchy model of world cities with the network model, and critique the neo‑Marxist meta‑network account to expose its limitations.

Abstract

This paper introduces some new theoretical ideas to a literature that is just beginning to conceptualize globalization and cities as networks. The idea of networks is a fashionable one, but the idea is not new and has taken several forms over the years. This paper discusses some of the more recent and influential ideas about networks to argue for some new theoretical and empirical directions in the field of globalization and world cities. First, the shift from the idea of a hierarchy of world cities developed by writers such as John Friedmann to the idea of a world city network developed by writers such as Peter Taylor is discussed. Second, the paper provides a critique of the neo-Marxist account of globalization as a series of meta-networks advanced by Manuel Castells to expose the limitations of an approach that has been broadly adopted by several globalization and world cities scholars. Finally, it is argued that further progress in the conceptualization and empirical study of world cities and their networks can be made through an engagement with the literatures of actor-network theory and non-representational theory.