Given the now habitual contextualization of public policy in terms of the constraints,
pressures, and more rarely, opportunities associated with globalization, one might be
forgiven for expecting a clear (if implicit) consensus on the meaning of the term.
Nothing could be further from the truth.Whether globalization is occurring or not is
highly contested; and indeed, what would count as evidence of globalization in the
first place is scarcely less contested. The result is considerable confusion as analysts,
who may in fact agree to a far greater extent than they assume on what is really going
on, mistake semantic differences for more substantive analytical disagreements.