The globalisation of business activity: structures, processes and prospects for the demise of postmodernism

Popular wisdom holds that globalisation is one of the key socio-economic themes of the notionally contemporaneous postmodern era. Globalisation (leading to globalism) is, an historical era, that is superseding postmodernism. One of the principle mechanisms for globalisation (recognising the amalgam of forces and effects that produce globalisation phenomena) is the development of international economic consortia or trading blocs. Set in this context, the theses of premodernism, modernism and postmodernism are shown to be dialectical antecedents of globalisation. Postmodernism, specifically, is a transitional phase connecting modernism with globalism much like, one might argue, the medieval era served to connect antiquity with the enlightenment. The article discusses implications for business management in NAFTA, The European Union and MERCOSUR.