Introduction

This book presents a novel theoretical and methodological approach to understanding the emerging “glocal” realities of (sub)urban space. Beginning with a study of a suburb of Athens, it illustrates the dynamic interaction between the local and the global, charting a range of radical social changes as this locality adapts itself to processes of globalization.

Global and Local Interactions

Moving beyond the Athenian context, it shows how the various traditions of suburban enclaves interact with and confront the impact of external yet pervasive elements of the global(ized) world – for instance, through the adoption of events and practices observed in societies across the globe, such as Earth Day or International Holocaust Remembrance Day, or the use of the global calendar – as the polis transforms into a cosmopolis.

Theoretical Framework

With explorations of this kind, A Glocal Town advances a three-stage interpretative scheme that enables us to frame “glocality” more broadly, and better understand the global–local interaction wherever it occurs. As such, it will appeal to scholars of sociology, geography, and urban studies interested in globalization and its interaction with the local in (sub)urban locales.