Just what is it that makes the term 'global-local' so widely cited yet so annoying?
My title derives, of course, from the Richard Hamilton collage "Just What Is It that Makes Today's Homes so Different, so Appealing?" (1956) - you know, the one with the muscle-man holding a gigantic Tootsie Pop. Initially, I had thought to call the essay 'Citing and re-siting Singapore in the global-local spectacle'. T hat title, while less catchy, would have been more descriptive of my theme. But I decided against it because I didn't want to add to the circulation of the term 'global-local' without at least qualifying it with some sarcasm. My problem with the term is that, for the most part, the global local tensions it refers to are already subsumed by the logic of globalisation and late capitalism.
