Abstract

There has long been a substantial asymmetry with regard to usage and salience of globalization, globalism, and globality. This applies in particular to globality, both in public and academic discourses. Consequently, it remains necessary to determine more systematically what constitutes globality and to address the much neglected question of whether and to what extent globality can be shaped. To these ends, this contribution elaborates distinctive characters of globality as conditions of spatial expansion across the globe, which can pertain to ideas, products, or institutions among other things. Moreover, it demonstrates how globality amounts to results of human action that can take countless forms over space and time. As such, the particular qualities of globality, including its basic reference to space, human centeredness, as well as its complex relationship to power and structures, become evident, revealing the shaping power and potential of globality.