This book investigates the conceptual origins, evolution, and genealogical lineages of the term ‘globalization’ by featuring interviews with twelve prominent academic pioneers who were central in forging the ‘career ‘of the concept of ‘globalization’. These interviews clarify how and why a previously obscure scholarly concept exploded in the public discourse of the 1990s. In particular, the interviews trace the processes by which economistic discourses of free market economics became the basis for the influential association of the meaning of ‘globalization’ with the dominant neoliberal framework of the 21 st century. This book was originally published as a special issue of Globalizations.