The collapse of the state-socialist systems in Eastern Europe and the much discussed rise of the so-called 'new economy' have compelled scholars and thinkers to address developments of arguably world-historical significance. In particular, they have had to reflect on the impact on global society of what appears to be a new, globalised economic system characterised, among other things, by the unrivalled hegemony of capitalism, the consolidation of liberal-democracy in the advanced economies and

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... he claimed demise of the nation-state. These developments have had implications for culture and for intellectual life, for education and for labour markets, and for public policy. They have forced us to revisit the role of the state and to reflect, anew, on the manner in which we describe and analyse the attendant societal phenomena. They invite us, too, to ask once again whetherand if so what -alternative, more desirable, institutional arrangements might be envisaged. The contributions to this issue of Theoria address, in diverse ways, these and related questions. A funny thing happened to space on the way to globalisation, quips Zygmunt Bauman at the start of his sobering contribution: 'it lost its importance while gaining in significance'. With almost all spaces everywhere now being immediately accessible, territory has lost the political and military importance it once had; but the rapidity and uncertainty of global change has invested local spaces with new significance. Like other contributors to this issue, Bauman explores the impact of globalisation on the nation-state, but stresses that globalisation need not, and as yet does not, entail a global civil society, community or culture. What we are witnessing instead is a 'secession of the successful', a global élite with the capacity and the motivation to distance themselves spatially and culturally, not only financially, from the majority of the world's population. This is no passing phenomenon, but an indispensable feature of the global order, making possible unprecedented freedom of movement on the part of finance and trade flows. Until recently in modern history, the paramount technique of power was one of engagement, through which some were able to keep others under surveillance and control on the basis of the real or putative presence and dependence of both masters and servants (broadly