GLOBAL FLOWS AND LOCAL CULTURES - ON THE RECONFIGURATION OF SOCIAL SPACES IN THE PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION

Whatever else the meaning of ''globalization'' might be, the process i n question refers first of all to an overall change of socio-spatial s cales. Given the fact that spatial scales and territorially bounded so cial entities are highly interdependent, this article aims at analysin g those processes of socio-spatial reconfigurations, by which new form s of interconnectedness and place related localities are being produce d. Therefore the common notion to depict globalization as an ongoing p rocess of de-territorialization serves as a critical point of departur e to emphasize the dynamics of de-territorialization as the ''frames'' which via re-embedding reshape both: global flows and local cultures. The question then, why and how, especially under global conditions, p lace matters, is the leitmotiv of the paper.