Globalization : The Essentials

by Ritzer, George

• ISBN13: 9780470655603
• ISBN10: 0470655607
• Format: Hardcover
• 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 book including The McDonaldization of Society (1993, 2008), 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	p. xi
Globalization: Conceptualization, Origins, and History	p. 1
Conceptualizing Globalizatin	p. 3
From "Solids" to "Liquids"	p. 3
"Flows"	p. 7
"Heavy" and "Light"	p. 8
"Heavy" Structures that Expedite "Flows"	p. 10
"Heavy" Structures as Barriers to "Flows"	p. 12
Subtler Structural Barriers	p. 16
Origins and History of Globalization	p. 17
Hardwired	p. 17
Cycles	p. 18
Epochs	p. 18
Events	p. 18
Broader, More Recent Changes	p. 20
Chapter Summary	p. 22
Theorizing Globalization	p. 28
Imperialism	p. 29
colonialism	p. 31
Development	p. 32
Americanization	p. 34
Anti-Americanism as a Global Process	p. 36
Neo-Liberalism	p. 37
Neo-Liberalism: Basic Ideas	p. 40
The Neo-Liberal State	p. 41
Critiquing Neo-Liberalism: Karl Polanyi	p. 42
Contemporary Criticisms of Neo-Liberalism	p. 44
Neo-Marxian Theories	p. 45
Transnational Capitalism	p. 45
Empire	p. 47
Chapter Summary	p. 49
Structuring the Global Economy	p. 55
Befor Bretton Woods	p. 56
APrior Epoch of Globalization	p. 56
Economic Development during and after WW II	p. 57
Bretton Woods and the Bretton Woods System	p. 58
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)	p. 60
World Trade Organization (WTO)	p. 61
Internatinal Monetary Fund (IMF)	p. 61
World Bank	p. 64
The End of Bretton Woods	p. 66
Changes in, and Critiques of, Bretton-Woods-Era Organizations	p. 67
Other Important Economic Organizations	p. 72
The Multinational Corporation (MNC)	p. 72
The Myth of Economic Globalization?	p. 75
Chapter Summary	p. 76
Global Economic Flows	p. 81
Trade	p. 82
Trade Surpluses and Deficits	p. 82
Global Trade: Economic Chains and Networks	p. 82
Global Value Chains: China and the US	p. 84
Scrap metal	p. 84
Waste paper	p. 85
T-shirts	p. 86
iPhones	p. 87
Increasing Competition for Commodities	p. 88
The Economic Impact of the Flow of Oil	p. 89
Oil Wealth	p. 90
Race to the Bottom and Upgrading	p. 91
Upgrading in the Less Developed World?	p. 92
Outsourcing	p. 93
Financial Globalizatin	p. 95
The Great Recession	p. 95
Consumption	p. 98
Consumer Objects and Services	p. 100
Consumers	p. 100
Consumption Processes	p. 101
Consumption Sites	p. 101
Global Resistance	p. 101
Chapter Summary	p. 102
Global Political Structures and Processes	p. 106
On Political Flows	p. 107
The Nation-State	p. 108
Threats to the Nation-State	p. 109
Global flows	p. 109
International human rights	p. 110
"Shadows of War"	p. 111
In Defense of the Nation-State	p. 111
"Imagined Community"	p. 112
Changes in Global Nation-State Relations	p. 114
United Nations (UN)	p. 117
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)	p. 118
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)	p. 118
Internatinal Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)	p. 118
GlobalGovernance	p. 119
Civil Society	p. 121
International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs)	p. 124
Chapter Summary	p. 128
High-Tech Global Flows and Structures	p. 133
Technology	p. 134
Medical Technologies	p. 135
Spae-Based Technologies	p. 136
Leapfrogging	p. 136
India's "One Lakh Car" (or NANO)	p. 138
Problematic Technological Flows	p. 139
Media	p. 139
Media Imperialism	p. 139
"Media Were American"	p. 140
New Global Media	p. 141
Indymedia	p. 142
Thinking about the Global Media	p. 143
The Internet	p. 145
Online Social Networking	p. 146
Spam	p. 147
Computer Viruses	p. 147
The Internet in China	p. 148
Chapter Summary	p. 149
Global Culture and Cultural Flows	p. 153
Cultural Differentialism	p. 155
Civilizations	p. 155
Cutural Hybridization	p. 159
Muslim Girl Scouts	p. 160
Appadurai's "Landscapes"	p. 161
Cultural Convergence	p. 163
Cultural Imperialism	p. 163
Indian sari weavers	p. 164
Deterritorialization	p. 165
World Culture	p. 165
McDonaldization	p. 167
McDonaldizatin, expansionism, and globalization	p. 169
Beyond fast food	p. 170
The Globalization of Nothing	p. 171
Cricket: local, glocal, or grobal?	p. 173
Chapter Summary	p. 174
Global Flows of Migrants	p. 178
Migrants	p. 179
Migration	p. 180
Flows of Migrants to and from the US	p. 183
Illegal Mexican migrants to the US	p. 183
Migrants through Mexico and to the US	p. 185
Increased law enforcement	p. 185
Flow of Migrants Elsewhere in the World	p. 187
Illegal immigrants in Europe	p. 187
Great Britain	p. 187
Switzerland	p. 188
Greece	p. 189
Illegal immigrants in Asia	p. 190
The Case Against the Backlash to Illegal Immigration	p. 191
Remittances	p. 194
Diaspora	p. 197
Chapter Summary	p. 199
Global Environmental Flows	p. 204
Differences Among Natio-States	p. 207
Collapse	p. 207
The Leading Environmental Problems	p. 208
Destruction of Natural Habitats	p. 208
Decline of Fish	p. 208
Decline in Fresh Water	p. 209
The paradox of bottled water	p. 211
Toxic Chemicals	p. 212
Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming	p. 212
Rising seas	p. 213
Global warming and health	p. 214
Population Growth	p. 215
The Global Flow of Dangerous Debris	p. 215
Global Responses	p. 216
Sustainable Development	p. 216
Dealing with Climate Change	p. 218
Carbon Tax	p. 219
Carbon Neutral	p. 220
Alternate Fuels and Power Sources	p. 220
Hybrid technology	p. 220
Ethanol	p. 221
Solar Power	p. 222
A Technological Fix?	p. 222
Economic Issues	p. 224
Opposing Environmentalism	p. 224
Chapter Summary	p. 225
Negative Global Flows and Processes: Dangerours Imports, Diseases, Crime, Terrorism, War	p. 230
Dangerous Imports	p. 232
Borderless Diseases	p. 233
HIV/AIDS	p. 234
Avian Flu	p. 235
SARS	p. 236
Ebola Virus	p. 236
Tropical Diseases in Europe	p. 237
Crime	p. 237
Terrorism	p. 242
War	p. 247
Global Military Structures	p. 249
Technology	p. 249
Information War	p. 250
Cyber-War	p. 252
The Impact of Negative Global Flows on Individuals	p. 253
Chapter Summary	p. 254
Inequality	p. 260
Global Inequality	p. 261
"The Bottom Billion"	p. 261
Migration	p. 262
E-Waste and Inequality	p. 263
Global Digital Divide	p. 263
Race and Ethnicity and Gender	p. 264
Race and Ethnicity	p. 264
Gender	p. 270
Gender and the economy	p. 271
Global care chains	p. 275
Trafficking in the sex industry	p. 276
Mail-order brides	p. 277
Responding to and resisting global minority status: the case of women	p. 277
Rural-Urban and Inequality	p. 278
Rural	p. 278
Urban	p. 281
Cities: the main locus of global problems	p. 283
Chapter Summary	p. 284
Dealing with, Resisting, and the Future of, Globalization	p. 291
Dealing with Globalization	p. 292
Dealing with the Global Economy	p. 292
Protectinism	p. 293
Fair trade	p. 295
Helping the "bottom billion"	p. 298
Dealing with Political Globalization	p. 299
Accountability	p. 299
Transparency	p. 299
Transparency International (TI)	p. 300
Resisting Globalization	p. 301
Local Resistance	p. 304
A Social Movement?	p. 305
More Formal Social Movements	p. 306
World Social Forum and Cyberactivism	p. 306
Is the Resistance to Globalization Significant?	p. 308
The Futures of Globalization	p. 309
A "Mad Max" Scenario	p. 311
Chapter Summary	p. 312
Glossary	p. 317
Index	p. 322
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