Globalization : The Essentials

by Ritzer, George

• ISBN13: 9780470655610
• ISBN10: 0470655615
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-02-21
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Essentials of Globalization is a highly useful compact edition of the author's full-scale textbook, Globalization: A Basic Text. The Essentials is written in a style accessible to undergraduates, and draws on both academic and popular sources in its explanations. A highly useful compact version of Globalization: A Basic Text , which still contains the major areas whilst being especially affordable for the student market Develops a unique perspective on globalization early in the book and uses it throughout to orient and organize discussion of a wide range of topics and parts of the world Integrated use of a wide array of materials, including empirical research, theories, newspaper and magazine articles, monographs, popular books Designed to work as a basic text in a course on globalization, or as a supplementary text in that or other courses which wish to include globalization as one of several topics

Author Biography

George Ritzer is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, with awards that include the American Sociological Association's Distinguished Contribution to Teaching Award. He is the author of numerous books including The McDonaldization of Society (1993, 2011), The Globalization of Nothing (2003, 2007) Globalization: A Basic Text (2010) and the editor of The Encyclopedia of Social Theory (2005), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (2007), The Blackwell Companion to Globalization (2007) and the forthcoming The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization. His work has been translated into over 20 languages.

Table of Contents

Preface.

1 Globalization.

Conceptualization, Origins, and History.

Conceptualizing Globalization.

From "Solids" to "Liquids".

"Flows".

"Heavy" and "Light".

"Heavy" Structures that Expedite "Flows".

"Heavy" Structures as Barriers to "Flows".

Subtler Structural Barriers.

Origins and History of Globalization.

Hardwired.

Cycles.

Epochs.

Events.

Broader, More Recent Changes.

Chapter Summary. 

2 Theorizing Globalization.

Imperialism.

Colonialism.

Development.

Americanization.

Anti-Americanism as a Global Process.

Neo-Liberalism.

Neo-Liberalism: Basic Ideas.

The Neo-Liberal State.

Critiquing Neo-Liberalism: Karl Polanyi.

Contemporary Criticisms of Neo-Liberalism.

Neo-Marxian Theories.

Transnational Capitalism.

Empire.

Chapter Summary. 

3 Structuring the Global Economy.

Before Bretton Woods.

A Prior Epoch of Globalization.

Economic Development during and after WW II.

Bretton Woods and the Bretton Woods System.

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

World Trade Organization (WTO).

International Monetary Fund (IMF).

World Bank.

The End of Bretton Woods.

Changes in, and Critiques of, Bretton-Woods-Era Organizations.

Other Important Economic Organizations.

The Multinational Corporation (MNC).

The Myth of Economic Globalization?

Chapter Summary. 

4 Global Economic Flows.

Trade.

Trade Surpluses and Deficits.

Global Trade: Economic Chains and Networks.

Global Value Chains: China and the US.

Scrap metal.

Waste paper.

T-shirts.

iPhones. 

Increasing Competition for Commodities.

The Economic Impact of the Flow of Oil.

Oil Wealth.

Race to the Bottom and Upgrading.

Upgrading in the Less Developed World?

Outsourcing.

Financial Globalization.

The Great Recession.

Consumption.

Consumer Objects and Services.

Consumers.

Consumption Processes.

Consumption Sites.

Global Resistance.

Chapter Summary.

5 Global Political Structures and Processes.

On Political Flows.

The Nation-State.

Threats to the Nation-State.

Global flows.

International human rights.

"Shadow of war". 

In Defense of the Nation-State.

"Imagined Community".

Changes in Global Nation-State Relations.

United Nations (UN).

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Global Governance.

Civil Society.

International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs).

Chapter Summary. 

6 High-Tech Global Flows and Structures.

Technology, Media, and the Internet.

Technology.

Medical Technologies.

Space-Based Technologies.

Leapfrogging.

India's "One Lakh Car" (or NANO).

Problematic Technological Flows.

Media.

Media Imperialism.

"Media Were American".

New Global Media.

Indymedia.

Thinking about the Global Media.

The Internet.

Online Social Networking.

Spam.

Computer Viruses.

The Internet in China.

Chapter Summary. 

7 Global Culture and Cultural Flows.

Cultural Differentialism.

Civilizations.

Cultural Hybridization.

Muslim Girl Scouts.

Appadurai's "Landscapes".

Cultural Convergence.

Cultural Imperialism.

Indian sari weavers.

Deterritorialization. 

World Culture.

McDonaldization.

McDonaldization, expansionism, and globalization.

Beyond fast food. 

The Globalization of Nothing.

Cricket, local, glocal, or grobal?

Chapter Summary.

8 Global Flows of Migrants.

Migrants.

Migration.

Flows of Migrants to and from the US.

Illegal Mexican migants to the US.

Migrants through Mexico and to the US.

Increased law enforcement. 

Flow of Migrants Elsewhere in the World.

Illegal immigrants in Europe.

Great Britain.

Switzerland.

Greece.

Illegal immigrants in Asia. 

The Case Against the Backlash to Illegal Immigration.

Remittances.

Diaspora.

Chapter Summary. 

9 Global Environmental Flows.

Differences Among Nation-States.

Collapse.

The Leading Environmental Problems.

Destruction of Natural Habitats.

Decline of Fish.

Decline in Fresh Water.

The paradox of bottled water. 

Toxic Chemicals.

Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming.

Rising seas.

Global warming and health.

Population Growth.

The Global Flow of Dangerous Debris.

Global Responses.

Sustainable Development.

Dealing with Climate Change.

Carbon Tax.

Carbon Neutral.

Alternate Fuels and Power Sources.

Hybrid technology.

Ethanol.

Solar power.

A Technological Fix?

Economic Issues.

Opposing Environmentalism.

Chapter Summary.

10 Negative Global Flows and Processes.

Dangerous Imports, Diseases, Crime, Terrorism, War.

Dangerous Imports.

Borderless Diseases.

HIV/AIDS.

Avian Flu.

SARS.

Ebola Virus.

Tropical Diseases in Europe.

Crime.

Terrorism.

War.

Global Military Structures.

Technology.

Information War.

Cyber-War.

The Impact of Negative Global Flows on Individuals.

Chapter Summary.

11 Inequality.

Global Inequality.

"The Bottom Billion".

Migration.

E-Waste and Inequality.

Global Digital Divide.

Race and Ethnicity and Gender.

Race and Ethnicity.

Gender.

Gender and the economy.

Global care chains.

Trafficking in the sex industry.

Mail-order brides.

Responding to and resisting global minority status: the case of women. 

Rural–Urban and Inequality.

Rural.

Urban.

Cities: the main locus of global problems.

Chapter summary. 

12 Dealing with, Resisting, and the Future of, Globalization.

Dealing with Globalization.

Dealing with the Global Economy.

Protectionism.

Fair trade.

Helping the "bottom billion".

Dealing with Political Globalization.

Accountability.

Transparency.

Transparency International (TI).

Resisting Globalization.

Local Resistance.

A Social Movement?

More Formal Social Movements.

World Social Forum and Cyberactivism.

Is the Resistance to Globalization Significant?

The Futures of Globalization.

A "Mad Max" Scenario.

Chapter Summary. 

Glossary.

Index.