Introduction: Globalization and history [Introductie: Globalisering en geschiedenis]

This introduction explores various aspects of globalization from a historical perspective. It puts the various reviews on trade, migration, infrastructure, Americanization and space published in this issue in the context of the globalization debate. Three central debates are introduced: on the definition of globalization, its periodization, and finally on its relation with the nation-state. It is argued that the globalization literature calls for a transnational turn in history. It provides historians with a new transnational research agenda whichfocuses on the study of cross-border flows, the people and organizations involved, new spaces constructed, and on the influence of these flows on national and local histories.