The purpose of this course is to give a balanced and empirical perspective on the topic of globalization focusing on the longer-term underlying processes of global economic change in which currents events can be better understood. One aim of the course is to demonstrate the fundamentally relational nature of globalization processes by focusing explicitly on global production networks (GPN) and global innovation networks (GIN) and to emphasize the power-laden dynamics of the interactions between companies, political systems, consumers, labour and civil society organizations – and their geography – highlighting both the institutional and spatial context of globalization. Another aim is to give insights into new empirical developments and to incorporate new ideas on the shaping and reshaping of production, distribution and consumption in the global economy. The third aim is to provide arguments about the impacts of globalization processes on people, places and the environment and the more ethical aspects of globalization processes. In general this course will provide students with dynamic perspectives on how the global economy works and what its effect are. There will be a special focus on emerging economies, especially China.