Edited by John Phillimore, 1995, Institute for Science and Technology Policy, Murdoch University, Murdoch WA 6150. ISBN 0 86905 411 2, $15 plus $1.50 postage and handling.
Reviewed by Nancy Mills
Technology has dramatically reduced the time it takes for people, products and information to travel from one side of the world to the other. This encourages and makes it possible for commercial enterprises to broaden their scope from servicing local markets to servicing many markets around the world, in a trend known as "globalisation".
Local Matters is a collection of papers on globalisation written by students and established authors in the field of science and technology policy. The papers were presented at a spring conference on Rottnest Island, near Perth, which may explain the wide variety of largely unrelated topics.
Globalisation is often considered bad for local communities because goods produced specially to suit local consumers can be replaced by imported goods made solely for the requirements of the larger markets. It can have positive consequences too, of course, such as increased competition within a market leading to more or better choices for local consumers.
Are the problems of globalisation overstated? According to Keith Pavitt, RM Phillips Professor of Science Policy at Sussex University's science policy research unit, "the notion of a recent and massive growth of globalisation can be pushed too far".
The extent to which globalisation occurs is limited by local factors such as networks of people whose expertise is used by business enterprises. Close personal contact is an important element in ensuring such networks are (commercially) useful. Pavitt refers to studies which have shown that in industrialised countries such as Japan, USA, Italy, France and Germany, the lion's share of their research and development activities is conducted in their own country - despite the existence of many enterprises with an aggressively international outlook.
A Murdoch University student, Rae Fry, makes a noteworthy contribution, resisting the temptation to consider globalisation as a "massive, monolithic force, directed by no-one yet powerful enough to affect everyone". Fry suggests our tendency to endow globalisation with "some sinister yet intangible sense of purpose" is simply part of our efforts to make sense of an increasingly complex world.
Technology, and access to technology, can certainly widen the gap between those who have it and those who do not. Local Matters looks at how globalisation affects countries in different stages of development but not whether globalisation affects women and men differently.
Unfortunately for prospective readers, however, Local Matters is frequently dense without having anything worthwhile to impart. If globalisation is an issue close to your professional heart, you may be interested to learn more of the current state of Australian thinking on this topic - good and bad. If not, you may wish to save your money for something you know you will enjoy reading.